A book about a pair of sisters, where the protagonist is the younger sister … of course I was intrigued! Additionally, historical fiction has attracted me for a while, and I have come across very little in the genre for seven and eight-year-olds. Rattu & Poorie’s Adventures in History: 1857, shortlisted for the Neev Book Award […]
Reading, Reading, and Reading Some More
Yesterday, we came to the end of yet another batch of my reading programme for ages nine and ten. I wrote about our ‘raise hand‘ anecdote, and thinking about that made me realise – again – that the main reason I conduct reading programmes is that I enjoy them so much! Yes, I spread the […]
Rise of the Earth Dragon (Dragon Masters #1)
I love introducing children to book series. It’s heartwarming to see children come back to a subsequent edition of my reading programme bursting with excitement because they’re reading the next book of a series to which I introduced them! It’s happened with the hOle books, Amelia Bedelia, the A to Z Mysteries, Moin and the […]
No Nonsense Nandhini
What do you do when circumstances force you to let go of your dream? You create another dream. And another. And another. Hold on to your sense of humour and don’t give up.At least, that’s Nandhini’s way. No Nonsense Nandhini, shortlisted for the Neev Book Award for Junior Readers 2021, is a book about resilience, […]
Cricket for the Crocodile
I launched my online reading programme for ages seven and eight in December last year, which means that this is the sixth edition of the programme. Each time, I’ve focused on Indian books – books written by Indians, published in India or set in India – usually all three. On the whole, I’ve tried to […]
A Big Splash
Dhivya loves swimming.But when her brother nearly drowns, she isn’t allowed to swim in the lake anymore. Dhivya enjoys playing cricket with her friends.But they don’t seem to want to play with her anymore. Now what? A Big Splash is a sensitively told story about a thirteen-year-old who blossoms not just into a champion swimmer, […]
The Vampire Boy
The Vampire Boy by Sharanya Deepak is another delightful hOle book – quirky and unique. The government has decided that all children – including young vampires – must go to school. What is Kristofer to do? He knows he will be shunned, but off he goes, only to meet with curiosity and bullying. In a way […]
No Ticket, Will Travel
For ever so long, I didn’t even know what the general compartment of a train was. When I saw people lining on station platforms, I assumed that they couldn’t plan their travel in advance and so, they didn’t get tickets. I knew all about not getting tickets because each year, we would stand in line […]
House of Uncommons
We all know about the House of Commons. What could the House of Uncommons be? I didn’t want to read up about the book to find out, so I picked it up and dived right in. The book started slowly, and I frowned as I read about Krishnan travelling with his Chikkappa to Snehagao. I […]
Book Spotting!
When my first book, The Story-Catcher, was published, we started playing a game. We would go to every bookstore in every city we visited and try to find a copy of the book. It was impossible. And yet, it was exciting. I even got a spreadsheet from my publishers, listing the stores in which my book […]
Raise Hand
Children will be mischievous. They will always, always try to find ways to fool their teachers. The most common excuse during virtual sessions? “I lost connection.” Much as children like to believe otherwise, teachers can tell when children aren’t attentive. They stare at the screen and their eyes glaze over. At my book club, I […]
Book Club Discussions
We just finished reading Sandy to the Rescue, the first of five books we’ll be reading at this edition of my book club. One of the joys of reading the hOle books at the reading programme is that the length is perfect. We have enough time to read and do activities during each session, which, […]
Strong as Fire, Fierce as Flame
Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar left its mark on me. But Strong as Fire, Fierce as Flame was something else altogether. I devoured the book. Each chapter made me read just one more chapter, as compelling as the previous one. Meera is an unlikely protagonist, one who seems a far cry from the typical feisty girl […]
Pinkoo Shergill – Pastry Chef
Two days ago, at my reading programme, we discussed portmanteau words – words created by combining existing words. The children came up with words like roli (a rose and a lily) and brellow (brown and yellow). I must introduce them to Pinkoo Shergill next, with his delightful portmanteau words! Fabtastic! Wowmazing! Spectaculous! Just like those […]
Smash It, Butterfingers!
I love it when you can begin a series with absolutely any book! I have been eyeing the Butterfingers series for a long time, but I somehow never got around to any of them. And so, when I was asked if I would read and review the seventh one, Smash It, Butterfingers!, I agreed right […]
The Great Big Lion
I work with young writers all the time. Sure, not with children as young as Chryseis Knight when she wrote The Great Big Lion, but seven and eight-year-olds often send me stories and poems to read. Sometimes, especially with slightly older children – about the age of 11 or 12 – I am amazed at the […]
Dreamers
Dreamers. What a beautiful title for a series of illustrated stories about children who dared to dream and then dared to live their dream. The first two books in the series are about light and song, and I found that quite lovely too. Richly illustrated with stark, contrasting colours, The Boy Who Played with Light and The […]
My June Reading Programmes – An Overview
“Ooh! I see something suspicious!” one child cried out, holding up her copy of The Monster Hunters. “Look! A monster at the window! Page 2!” “On page 33 of Bookasura, Bakasura is so big. How did he become so small on page 39?” “I don’t think Mr Hoppy should have lied to Mrs Silver about Alfie. […]
Karma Meets a Zombie
Karma Meets a Zombie is probably the most ambitious book I’ve chosen for my reading programme for ages nine and ten. I read Karma Fights a Monster some time ago and I loved it. I even wrote about it in an essay on monsters and stereotypes because I was struck by how unusual the monster is. Karma Meets […]
The Absolutely True Adventures of Daydreamer Dev
Daydreaming! Sigh. You can be what you want to be. You can do what you want to do. And Dev is the ace daydreamer. In The Absolutely True Adventures of Daydreamer Dev, the boy embarks on three adventures. He climbs Mount Everest, travels along the Amazon and then across the Sahara. Each adventure is real to […]