I remember quite enjoying Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart. Maybe I didn't like it as much as The Ivy Tree or Madam, Will You Talk? but I did enjoy it.This time, I enjoyed the beginning. The Spanish Riding School, the levade, Timothy in his awkward state between adolescence and adulthood... I smiled through all of it. I liked the sudden unreliability of the narrative voice, the same technique that blew me over in The Ivy Tree. I liked the balance between description and narration.In fact, I think I liked the story till the husband makes an appearance.Is it just me or is the novel too full of dramatic action and corny romance to be really enjoyable? … [Read more...]
Day One: Colour your Thoughts
At the British Library workshop for the 5-7 age-group today, I read out a story about a black dog.Mr Hope is afraid of the black dog because it's as big as a tiger. Mrs Hope is afraid of the black dog because it is as big as an elephant. Adeline Hope is afraid of the black dog because it's as big as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Maurice Hope is afraid of the black dog because it is as big as Big Jeffy."What do you think Big Jeffy is?" I asked."I think it's a very very very very very very very very very very very big alien," responded one six-year-old.We discussed what an alien is. We discussed whether or not aliens are friendly, whether or not aliens are like humans, whether or not aliens are monsters, and whether or not aliens have LASER guns. But we all agreed to the suggestion that Big Jeffy was an alien.One of the children, when it came to colouring her thoughts, drew a big, … [Read more...]
Another Foggy Day
It was not a cold morning, so when I reached school, I was more than a little surprised to see that it resembled a hill-station once more. Once again, there was no school.I stepped out of the warm bus and was astounded to see that when I breathed, there was steam coming out of my nostrils! Perhaps it's necessary to mention here that sometimes, when everyone else can create steam by breathing out, I often can't. My breath, I've concluded before, simply is not warm enough."Good morning," two colleagues greeted me.I was still so caught up with the smoke coming out from my nostrils that I did not even think about my unconventional response to their greeting. "Good morning, I feel like a dragon!" … [Read more...]
Colour your Ideas
My first workshop as part of the Creepy House Reading Challenge is this Sunday! A workshop for the little ones (age 5-7), I call it ...Read Aloud and Colour your Thoughts! Sunday 12th January, 2014. 11:00 am - noon Stories are always more fun when they have pictures. When they have more pictures, they are more interesting! So read a story, or listen to a story and imagine... Whatever you imagine, put down on paper. Draw and colour images from what you read – fill your ideas with colour! The best illustration will receive a prize. If the children are old enough and comfortable enough, I will ask them to read. If not, I'll read out to them. The children will be given paper and crayons. I'm excited to see what they come up with! … [Read more...]
The White Horse of Zennor and Other Stories
I love short stories! I wrote in my diary not very long ago, I think short stories are far more exciting to write because they capture a spark of imagination that lasts right through the moment of the story. A full-length novel... It begins with the spark, but for me involves more laborious imagination and less exciting inspiration.I've read The White Horse of Zennor and Other Stories before, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around. Writing about the sea is an old idea. I think, of course, of Tennyson and so many others. Michael Morpurgo captures the same excitement and thrill of the sea in stories that mix the traditional and the modern.Magic, folk-tales and a very willing suspension of disbelief come together to create stories that are filled with wonder. The first story, The Giant's Necklace, made me sad, but it was so gently told, with such great sensitivity, … [Read more...]
All Because of Jackson
There's a bubble of contentment within me whenever I read Dick King-Smith, and All Because of Jackson is no different.Filled with delightful pictures and dreams, All Because of Jackson is the story of a rabbit. Of course, with Dick King-Smith, it has to be about an animal. An animal that is perfectly ordinary, but different.Different because Jackson the rabbit wants to be a sailor. No rabbit becomes a sailor! Human beings eat rabbits!But Jackson wants to be a sailor.And so he does.All Because of Jackson is a twenty-minute voyage of joy! … [Read more...]
Moon Pie
Every page of Simon Mason's Moon Pie rang true. On the book-cover, I remember reading that someone called it an 'ultra-modern' story. I was not sure what to expect.I certainly did not expect this kind of brutal honesty. It made me shake my head and cry.Eleven-year-old Martha is puzzled by her father's strange behaviour. Martha's mother is dead, and the girl assumes that her father is grieving and so, naturally, behaving strangely.But Martha's mother always said that someone had to think straight, someone had to keep his head.So Martha has to keep her head. After all, she is eleven, she tells herself. She is old enough to take care of herself, to take care of her five-year-old brother Tug and to make endless lists of things to do to maintain order despite her father's strange behaviour. She is eleven. She cooks, makes lists and tries to do the things on the list.One … [Read more...]
The Story-Catcher in 2013
PMC Award!
When we introduce my teacher, we always talk about the prestigious Iyal Isai Nadagam award that she received. We have so many things to say about her, about countries she's toured and things she has achieved.This time, we had the privilege of being present when Guru Mythili Raghavan received an award from the Pune Municipal Corporation - the Pandita Rohini Bhate Puraskar.Hindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi was the chief guest, felicitating first Guru Prabhatai Marathe and then five other recipients of the award. Pune's mayor Chanchala Kodre came in late for the function and faced poet Ashok Vajpeyi's brilliant sarcasm with respect to the role of the government in promoting classical Indian dance and music.Proud to be Guru Mythili Raghavan's student! … [Read more...]
A Mouse Called Wolf
Whenever I read Dick King-Smith, I think about C.S. Lewis's oft-quoted “A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.” How true it is!Whoever heard of a singing mouse?From the single line on the book cover, reading the book is like a joyful ride into a story that moves from the first page to the last in the course of about half an hour.When Wolfgang Amadeus Mouse was born, he was the littlest of all, so his mother wanted to give him a grand name. Her nest was was made of a chewed up sheet of music and somehow, a little bit had remained unchewed. It said 'Wolfgang Amadeus Mo'. Of course, Mary Mouse knew that the last three letters were missing because what could the name be but Wolfgang Amadeus Mouse?Wolfgang Amadeus had to have a nickname, of course. His name was rather a mouthful. And so, his twelve siblings nicknamed … [Read more...]