Have you read any books by Andrew Clements? I've read several, and each one of them has been such a good choice as a book club read! Perhaps it's because Clements writes about school and even though some elements aren't exactly relatable, there are so many that are! Plus, with books like Frindle and The Losers Club, there's so much we can do as we read! Troublemaker "Troublemaker" is a hard tag to break away from. Often, teachers give us labels that we like or dislike. Talkative. Quiet. Mischievous. Intelligent. Lazy. Hardworking. What labels do you feel people associate with you? Do you like them? Vocabulary Games One of the most popular games at my book club is what we call 'Fast Find'. Often, when we don't know the meaning of a word, we don't bother to look it up, but we do understand the meaning based on its context. I give … [Read more...]
Mini’s Questions
We read Mini's Books a while ago, and it was fun! As a couple of book clubbers who read it with me have already signed up for the February 2025 edition, I decided to read another book from the series. The familiarity of characters always makes for a fun reading experience!Children have more questions than adults can answer, and soon enough, adults get fed up of answering their endless questions. But what if questions can help solve a mystery? Would parents sit up and take notice? Like the rest of the Mini series, Mini's Questions is a simple, early reader chapter book that brings pictures and text together in an engaging way! Questions Often, when I ask children if they have any questions, they have none. But what about if I give them a picture and a few guiding questions? Let's see what other questions they have! A curious mind leads to all … [Read more...]
Kushti Kid
Kushti Kid is another lovely book by Vibha Batra, one that I know my book club will enjoy! For me, the challenge when it comes to introducing books published by Scholastic India is that there's no ebook available, which often means that I have to restrict my book clubbers to children living in India, or at least children who have access to books in India.Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to reading this with my book clubbers! Sport What is kushti? Looking at the cover image, do you feel the girl stands a chance? Why, or why not?As Kushti Kid is the first book we will be reading next month, I would love for my book clubbers to tell me what sports they play and watch. Also, since I like to link reading to other activities too, we'll do a quick listening exercise on sport as well. Sportspeople A discussion on sport will also be the … [Read more...]
Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles
Another edition of my book club, another hOle book! We've read nineteen so far, and I'm running out of ones I think my book clubbers will enjoy! I read Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles four years ago. It is fun and light, and we'll have fun with it, especially as it's the first book we will read next month. Book Cover What's happening in the cover image? Before we start reading, we'll talk about the book cover and try to imagine what the boys are doing. We'll take this one step further and write about the emotions the children are likely to feel too. The Gap Club I love the idea of the Gap Club! As a child (and a devourer of books about clubs), I set up multiple clubs with various different agendas. If you could set up a club, what would the club be called? What would your mission statement be? Can you design a logo for the … [Read more...]
The Lucky List
Are you the kind of person who finishes a book once you've begun? Or are you perfectly happy abandoning a book that doesn't work for you?I'm usually the second, but I'm so glad I stuck with The Lucky List!Two chapters in, and I was not invested in the story. Teenage girl, isolated from her group of friends because she did something unforgivable to her boyfriend ... it didn't seem like the story would engage me. But it was a light, easy read, so I persevered. And I loved the way the story played out.Emily feels anything but lucky. Her mother is dead. Her father seems set on starting afresh, which means getting rid of everything to do with the wife he loved. Emily's best friend Kiera is away at camp. And none of her other friends wants anything to do with her.When Blake, a childhood friend, moves to Huckabee, Emily is both hopeful and despondent. Hopeful because at least … [Read more...]
The Stories Grandma Forgot (and How I Found Them)
How are such few people reading verse novels? They're so lovely, so full of emotion and magic! My latest read was The Stories Grandma Forgot (and How I Found Them), a beautiful middle-grade book about love, stories, and friendship.Nyla Elachi is of mixed heritage, and she's bullied for it. But in some ways, that's the least of her problems. Her beloved grandmother has Alzheimer's. Her mother is overworked. And her father is dead ... or so she thinks.When her grandmother says she saw Basim, her father, Nyla begins to ask questions. And as she follows one clue after another, hope, fear and anticipation alternate. She doesn't even know if she's ready to find out everything that is in store for her, but she hears snippets of whispered conversations that make her more curious than ever. With her grandmother's "time-travelling", as Nyla calls the tendency to mix up timelines, the … [Read more...]
The Art of Laughter
Every time I begin a new batch of my writing programme, it feels like the weeks fly by! This edition is nearly at an end, marked by our third and last guest session of the season.This session was conducted by Arundhati Venkatesh, author of a number of humorous books. My book clubbers have read several – Bookasura (which we’re reading again in December 2024), Koobandhee, Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter, Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief and Petu Pumpkin: Cheater Peter. Step by step, Arundhati led us through the writing of a humorous story. To begin with, if you want to write humour, you must enjoy reading funny stuff. This is something I say often---if you don't read, you cannot write. I don't restrict my definition of reading to fiction, though. We consume content in all kinds of ways, including memes and blog posts!Secondly, the core of humour is truth, something that I completely … [Read more...]
The School for Bad Girls
I was reading The School for Bad Girls and I mentioned how much I was enjoying it to an acquaintance. Immediately, she said, "I thought Anandibai Joshi was the first female doctor from India." We looked it up, and of course, I found myself going down a rabbit hole.When I finished reading the book, I saw author Madhurima Vidyarthi's note about the ongoing and "largely pointless" debate about who the first Indian woman to become a doctor was, and I smiled. After presenting a list of undeniable facts, the author goes on to ask,But why should that be important? The race was not against each other, but a joint struggle against society, patriarchy and bureaucracy. The School For Bad Girls, p. 303And that is what the book is all about---a struggle for something that should never have been a struggle at all, yet continues to be one.Set in nineteenth century Calcutta, The … [Read more...]
Kushti Kid
I've read and enjoyed so many of Vibha Batra's books that when I saw Kushti Kid, I knew I had to read it. And it's lovely!Several of Vibha's books challenge stereotypes, particularly gender stereotypes. There's Pinkoo Shergill, which features a boy who wants to cook. Kolam Kanna is about a boy who enjoys putting kolam. And The Chhau Champ has at its centre a girl who wants to do chhau. Many of her books are favourites of mine and more importantly, favourites at my book club.Kushti Kid, Vibha's latest book with Scholastic India, is the story of Qainaat, who, inspired by a movie she watches, wants to become a wrestler. Contrary to her family's expectations, her attraction to wrestling isn't just a fleeting infatuation; it lingers. And so, she joins a summer course ... and meets with one obstacle after another. Can a girl wrestle? Should she stand up to institutional bullying? … [Read more...]
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
Diaphoresis and dyslexia. Mason Buttle has both, and both trouble him. But that's just the tip of the iceberg of his troubles.His best friend Benny Kilmartin is dead.His parents are dead.And his uncle has sold off parts of their apple orchard to make ends meet.The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle is a beautiful story about innocence and friendship. Mason is a lovely character, a kind and gentle boy in a huge body. As he navigates a school where he is bullied, he finds a friend in Calvin Chumsky. With a new friend, it seems like Mason can finally begin to move on from Benny Kilmartin's death.If only the bullying would stop.The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle is at the same time pacy and slow, gripping and gentle. As the story progresses, even though we can guess how it will all end, we keep reading, wondering how the reveal will happen. I love simple characters, … [Read more...]