Munni finds an old book in her Mamaji's shop. What does it say? ungeon ales? What could that possibly be? There's only one way to find out - Munni must learn how to read, and properly. There's a tiny problem - girls are forbidden to read in her village. But can that little detail stop a protagonist like Munni? Stories within a story within a story - Munni reads a book about the Badmash Badshah, who has prisoners in his dungeon come tell him stories. And these stories comprise not ungeon ales, but the Badmash Badshah's Dungeon Tales.I loved the book. Layered with powerful themes and comprising a range of stories from the heroic to the horrific, Dungeon Tales is a glorious celebration of both rebellion and storytelling. I chuckled as I read tale after tale, rejoicing in triumphs, both tiny and tremendous. And the alliterative titles used to address the Badmash Badshah! I smile even … [Read more...]
The Nameless God
Often, when I read a book written for children, I wonder if I would have liked it as a child. I was quite conservative in my reading tastes right through school. I wasn't very willing to experiment, and I was drawn to just a few books. Yet, I think I would have enjoyed The Nameless God simply because it is so relatable. The characters are so much like I was as a child!Do you know anyone who has always been perfectly rational, completely unwilling to believe in superstition? I don't. As a child, I didn't believe in good luck charms or in the idea that seeing a single mynah was bad luck. But even though my brain wanted to be rational, I found myself wondering, Where's the harm in keeping a twig for good luck? Or, A single mynah might not bring me bad luck, but another mynah would make me happy, wouldn't it?And then there was religion. I wanted to believe. With a little idol under … [Read more...]
Kukdukoo 2022
There's nothing quite like the energy of a lit fest. Children running around, reading, getting excited about books ... what more does a writer want?My first session of the day was all about my middle-grade book, Sisters at New Dawn. Do you see the sheets of paper in the children's hands? They're lists of subjects children at New Dawn choose from. I asked the children to imagine they received these lists. What would they choose? I loved listening to all their responses, and all their additions to my subject lists!But what made my session extra special is the girl in yellow right in the front. That's Sunandini, and we finally took a picture together too. She's been part of my online creative writing programme for the last two years now, and she lives in Kolkata, but she stayed back just for my session! Sunandini bought Sisters, read it one day in advance, and brought it … [Read more...]
Ghosts Don’t Eat
Ghosts Don't Eat is the third of Anushka Ravishankar's books that we're reading at my online reading programme, and it promises to be just as much fun! We read Moin and the Monster at my book club for slightly older readers and the first of the Zain and Ana books, At Least a Fish, at an earlier edition of my book club for ages seven and eight.Ghosts Don't Eat is a hilarious book. I love children with good, earnest intentions, never mind what happens next. For instance, Ana wants to investigate the ghost in her neighbour Nikhil's house, so of course she needs Zain to create some sort of distraction. And what's the first idea that comes to mind? Start a fire! Is that the best idea? Um ...I'm waiting to read Ghosts Don't Eat with my book club! Words Ana loves words. Insufferable. Namby-pamby. Alibi.What better introduction to a word game? I'd love to do … [Read more...]
Nimmi’s Dreadtastic Detective Days
It's been a year since I read Nimmi's Dreadtastic Detective Days, and I've been mulling over whether to read it at my reading programme. It's a little longer than the books we usually read, but there's so much we can do with the book that I've been tempted to choose it. Finally, I decided I would just go ahead and see how it goes, since reading levels differ so widely anyway! Here's what we'll do with it. Portmanteau Words Dreadful + Fantastic = DreadtasticHorrible + Despondent = HorrondentGuffawing + Chortling = GuffortlingI love word games at my book club! As we read Nimmi's Dreadtastic Detective Days, we'll play with portmanteau words, both real and made up. Themed Food What if you had to make a whole meal based on a theme? What theme would you choose and what would you make?We'll let our imaginations go wild as we create recipes, names of … [Read more...]
The Reading Race
Books about books are always fun to read at my reading programmes. At an earlier edition, we read a book with a few elements that didn't appeal to me. For instance, I don't like the idea of reading quickly, or a competition based on how many books you can read. I also don't like the idea of particular books being read by girls and other books being read by boys.And The Reading Race heads in the right direction on both counts! At the Read-a-thon in Freddy's school, the student who reads for the most minutes will win free books and an author visit! Plus, the teacher in the story actively challenges the idea of 'boy-books'. And finally, the idea of rewarding reading with reading is a lovely message too! There are parts of the story that are rather silly - especially the relationship between the siblings in the book - but I think the children at my book club will enjoy reading The Reading … [Read more...]
A Big Splash
I read the entire PARI series a few months ago, and I've been mulling over them ever since. I'm not usually a big fan of nonfiction, and I haven't yet worked with it at my online reading programme, but A Big Splash stayed with me.And then, there were stray conversations that made me think of the book over and over again. A child at my writing programme told me how much she liked it. Earlier this month, we worked with Flyaway Boy by Jane de Suza, and during one of our activities, a label many of the children gave themselves was 'sports-lover'. A sportsy book? Sure! I've done just Cricket for the Crocodile before, and it's time to introduce something else!A Big Splash is a quick read, and that makes it the ideal first book for any batch of my reading programme. It's a tale of grit and introduces so many big themes that I can't wait to work with … [Read more...]
Malhar in the Middle
I LOVE Shruthi Rao's books. We read Manya Learns to Roar at my first reading programme, and even before that, I read and loved Susie Will Not Speak. If anything, I liked Malhar in the Middle even more.Malhar loves playing the tabla. But why does tradition demand that he should sit on the side? Why is he is the 'accompanying artiste'? Isn't the tabla player equally important at a concert? A big theme like tradition is handled with the lightest touch possible, and it's beautifully done. I love that Malhar manages to solve his own problem without needless drama or emotional conflict. He knows what he wants, he knows what to do, and he goes about doing it in a way that is as satisfying as it is lovely.Here's what we'll do with the book at my book club. Book Discussion - Tradition What traditions do you like? Are there any traditions that you would like to … [Read more...]
Mostly Ghostly Stories
If you want to start a conversation with her, send her an email here and she promises to replyI paused and sighed. That's how Subhadra Sen Gupta's bio note ends, and even though I never knew or even met her, that line right there warms me up. And even if she cannot reply now, her words stay alive through all the wonderful books she's written.Mostly Ghostly Stories is a fun, pacy collection of six stories. The stories span across time - from one set in Vijayanagar during Krishna Deva Raya's rule to another set in the age of the internet and social media. And no, even though they are all ghost stories, they aren't horror stories. They're stories of witches with a sense of humour, ghosts with the ability to solve mysteries and grumpy spirits who insist that some rules about food cannot be broken. The title of the collection is important too: they are mostly ghostly stories. … [Read more...]
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
How does one even begin to talk about a book like The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise? Coyote - why is she called Coyote? Why does the cover image show her sitting on top of a school bus?Coyote's mother and sisters die in a road accident and for her father, the only way to overcome grief is never to look back. So, he begins to call himself Rodeo, and never lets Coyote call him Dad. Nothing, nothing should remind them of the past. And returning to a place full of memories? That's a no-go.But when Coyote learns that she is about to lose one tangible aspect of her memories of her mother and sisters forever, she must go back. And somehow, she must get Rodeo to take her back without letting him find out what she's doing because if he finds out, there's no way he'll take her there. How she does it is what makes her journey remarkable. The people she meets, the acts of kindness … [Read more...]