Who doesn't love a good mystery? When geometry boxes begin to go missing, the AKA Detective Club finally has a new mystery to solve! But things always go missing in schools, don't they? What's the big deal? When a pattern begins to emerge, however, the young detectives know that something is fishy. Surely, no one would want more than one geometry box. And is there a reason why only Yuga geometry boxes are being stolen?The Mystery of the Missing Geometry Boxes is a lighthearted mystery, funny and engaging. I look forward to introducing it to my book club! Detective Club AKA stands for Aarav-Karthik-Asha, or Asha-Karthik-Aarav, depending on whom you ask. What would your detective club be called? Would you have a password and a secret code? Let's make one together! Geometry Boxes I enjoy linking reading with other activities! I'm not … [Read more...]
Saving the Sun Dragon
We read Rise of the Earth Dragon, the first book in the Dragon Masters series, nearly four years ago! It was another of those books that set children off on a reading journey because there's a whole series to devour.That's why we're reading Saving the Sun Dragon next month. It's the perfect reading level; it's imaginative, features driven characters, and has a good bit of adventure in it! Colouring Pages I love it when authors share fun activities on their websites! As we read Saving the Sun Dragon, I'll ask parents to print a few sketches that we will colour together in class! Create a Dragon We've read about an earth dragon; we're reading about a sun dragon. What other dragons can we create? What is its name? What powers does it have? Diary of a Dragon Master If you were a dragon master, what would one day in your … [Read more...]
Dear Mr. Henshaw
I've said this dozens of times: I love epistolary novels. I made a video about a few favourites for World Post Day 2021, I love doing letter-writing activities at workshops, and I've written an epistolary novel of my own.When we read Dear Mr. Henshaw for the first time at my book club, I knew it would be a book I would introduce time and time again. So come June, we'll be rereading this delightful book at Read, Write, Explore!Leigh Botts writes to his favourite author, Boyd Henshaw, and in the beginning, he doesn't get a reply. Later, he gets a printed response, rather than a handwritten one, which is almost as disappointing. When he is in the sixth grade, however, he receives a proper letter, which he needs for his author report, and this is the beginning of a funny, moving series of letters he writes about himself, his school and family. As we read Leigh's letters, we get to know not … [Read more...]
Lights, Camera, Action!
Lights, Camera, Action! was a whirlwind introduction to filmmaking, one which I thoroughly enjoyed. I know next to nothing about filmmaking, making this guest session all the more exciting for me. What an informative, detailed session it was!We began by watching a short film in French, Detour by Michel Gondry. Samina Mishra, our guest for the evening, asked us what we thought of the film and then we revisited a few details from a filmmaker's eye.What goes into mise en scène, or the frame of a film? What about cinematography? What does one pay attention to? Sound? Editing? What else?After looking at a range of elements from setting to costumes, effect sounds to editing, Samina left us with a writing exercise in which she asked us to write a single shot. With clear examples, she asked us to pay attention to the following things as we wrote:It was unfair to ask Samina to … [Read more...]
Boo-Boo Investigates
We read Boo-Boo the Eco-Warrior by Tanushree Podder a few months ago, and my book club enjoyed it. For one, it's easy to read because of the way the text is laid out. For another, the stories in the book are simple and engaging. That's why we will be reading another book featuring this friendly ghost---Boo-Boo Investigates. Forest Experiences As Boo-Boo lives in the forest, we will listen to some forest sounds and write what comes to mind. What can you see? What do you hear? What do you think you would be able to smell? While we don't write much at my book club for ages seven and eight, I do like to work with a little creative writing, an introduction of sorts, which will prepare the children for other writing activities later. Mysteries If you had to solve a mystery, what clues would you look for? As we discuss that, we will also … [Read more...]
Agassi and the Great Cycle Race
Agassi and the Great Cycle Race is a brand-new book that I'm eager to introduce to my book club. I read it not very long ago, and it's such a rollicking read that I'm sure it will be fun! What's in a name? Agassi hates his name. In fact, he prefers to be called by his other name - Joel.As Agassi and the Great Cycle Race is the first book we will be reading, we will do several name-related activities. If your parents had named you after their favourite sportspeople, what would your name be? If they had combined their names to create one for you, what options would they have had? And finally, I'd love to know what the stories behind their names are. What led to the choosing of their names? But, then ... We've played "Fortunately, Unfortunately" at several editions of my book club. It's time to do something different! When we play … [Read more...]
The Monster Hunters
We're rereading The Monster Hunters by Parinita Shetty at my book club in June 2025!Abhay is convinced that his mother has eyes at the back of her head. She knows everything and sees everything. Yet, she does not seem to believe that there are monsters in every child's room! Why can't she see them?It's time for Abhay and Nitya to get to work. They must find the monsters. In fact, they decide they will go one step further. For a school project where they have to narrate a real-life story, they will hunt down a monster and talk about the experience.I love books with driven characters, determined to prove something against all odds, and Abhay and Nitya are perfect. The book had me chuckling, shaking my head, but rooting for the characters anyway - and what more could I ask for from a book? Monster Games I love monster games! The wonderful thing … [Read more...]
Cartooning with Vineet Nair
What makes a cartoon different from a regular drawing? What is easier to draw? What do you think is important when you are drawing a cartoon?We had such an enjoyable workshop on cartooning with Vineet Nair, comic book illustrator and Art Director of Tinkle! The first rule, which I loved, but which the participants struggled with was Don't mute yourself! Speak! The entire session was interactive, with everyone eager to show what they were drawing.For me, what made the session stand out was the focus on how simple cartooning can be! Identify the major shape and then modify it. Exaggerate the details to bring in the emotion and the humour!We began with humans, went on to animals and finally looked at cartoonifying objects. I enjoyed the whole session! The image above is just a collage of all the cartoons Vineet drew during the session. The children drew so many more!A few … [Read more...]
Roop and the River Crossing
What was the Partition? What ripples do we see today, and how do people in power continue to exploit communal politics? These are difficult questions that one often wonders about whether to discuss with children. In some ways, books that talk about our history help, books like Roop and the River Crossing.Roop and the River Crossing written by Samina Mishra and illustrated by Shivam Choudhary uses the metaphor of a kaleidoscope beautifully to look at the Partition from the eyes of a child. In the beginning, the kaleidoscope is fascinating. The ways in which broken bangles create patterns is exciting and fun. But as Roop sees the same fractured reality in the world around her, the toy loses its thrill.Gently and powerfully, the book leads us through the turmoil of Partition. What I find most important since it is a children’s book is that she focuses more on kindness and caring … [Read more...]
Wrestling Day
When I went for the White Owl Literature Festival in Nagaland a few months ago, I attended part of an event that the author Theyiesinuo Keditsu conducted on her book, Wrestling Day. She spoke about how traffic piles up on Wrestling Day. People park everywhere, and that’s something that’s perfectly acceptable on that one day because that’s just the way things are. Wrestling is huge; everyone wrestles.Before I could ask, someone else did, ‘Do women wrestle too?’ The answer was ‘yes’; she used to wrestle too!A couple of days later I watched two young boys wrestling in Khonoma. It was such a simple, fascinating affair! They engaged in three bouts, and what I especially loved was the way they dusted each other off after their match was over.All this made me all the more curious to read Wrestling Day, and it didn’t disappoint.Aneingu should be all set to wrestle, but he … [Read more...]