The Imagination Box, which I wrote about yesterday, as well as the books I’ll be writing about in the days ahead, were part of the Reading Challenge organised by the British Library. As always, I enjoyed myself thoroughly conducting a series of workshops at MGM Clover Dale High School in Aurangabad. The theme for their Reading Challenge […]
The Imagination Box
Isn’t the name wonderful? The Imagination Box is the story of a boy called Tim, who has convinced himself that all he needs in life are his pencil and paper (and some confectionery would do no harm). Recently adopted, he knows that all the papers have been signed, but cannot help thinking of his new home […]
The Boy in the Dress
I started reading The Boy in the Dress long ago and never ended up finishing it. I don’t know why. Maybe I was in no mood to deal with all the mucus in the second chapter. Or maybe I was just not in the right mood. I picked up the book again because I watched a “Britain’s Got Talent” […]
Author Visit
Yesterday, the Writers’ Club at St. Mary’s School welcomed Leela Gour Broome, author of Flute in the Forest and Red Kite Adventure. Mrs Broome introduced her two books and spoke to the children about the process of writing them. “I’m not a fan of fantasy,” she said when the children asked her what she reads. “I think […]
Workshop on Communicative English
The six-hour journey from Pune to Beed was lovely. I love travelling in the monsoon through pouring rain, looking at all the shades of green passing by. I love the hills in the rain. They’re so full of life, so different from the parched summer browns! My workshop last weekend was with Gurukul English School […]
Flickering Flames
Last week, St. Mary’s School officially launched Flickering Flames, an anthology of poems and stories I edited as the facilitator of the Writers’ Club. The teachers have their copies already, and I’ve heard some lovely comments about the book. Here’s a little about it for those who are reading about this for the first time … In […]
Shine
What a puzzling book Shine was! It leaves me all mixed up in terms of what I feel about it. It’s a page turner, that’s for sure. I began to read and just kept reading without ever stopping. Yet, there were just so many places when I groaned and felt it was too predictable. There were things […]
Kalakshetra 2015
One year ago, three of us had the privilege of dancing at Kalakshetra in front of my teacher’s teachers. I can’t believe that a year has passed since that wonderful day that was so filled with emotion. We were scared, but our teacher was terrified – she had to play the nattuvangam on the same stage that […]
A Monster Calls
Stunning. Absolutely stunning. I picked up A Monster Calls in the same way that I pick up all other books – randomly. No one recommended it to me. I read no reviews. I did not read the blurb. Sometimes it’s better that way, simply because you have no idea what to expect. Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls is a truly […]
Reflections: Day Three at AFCC 2016
The last day of my first ever literary festival … I began day three at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content by attending a roundtable discussion on entering markets abroad, conducted by Cynthea Liu, Emily Lim, Helen Mangham. What was particularly wonderful about this event was the rounded perspective it had, as the speakers comprised one publisher, one writer […]
Reflections: Day Two at AFCC
Visiting a place for the first time can’t be work and work alone, especially when there’s so much to see and do. On days two and three at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, I attended fewer sessions, trying to make the most of my time in Singapore! Penning for the Preteen, conducted by Holly Thompson, […]
Reflections: Day One at AFCC 2016
The Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore was the first literary festival I attended. Here’s what I did there. The first session, Cracking the Golden Egg at Literary Festivals, was conducted by Felicia Low-Jiminez and Maria Alessandrino. It was a useful panel discussion, even though it focused more on how to deal with being […]
Workshop at Mane’s International School, Ratnagiri
People on the road selling karvand, mangoes and jackfruit. The lilting language that makes me listen to the tune rather than the meaning. The dark sand and the crashing waves. Joy! And Mane’s International School was beautiful. It’s a small school as of now, just a baby. There are mango trees everywhere, and the principal spoke […]
Back from AFCC 2016
So much excitement, so much fun! I attended the Asian Festival of Children’s Content at Singapore for the first time, and the opening ceremony was the grand event at which the winner of the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2016 was announced. My unpublished work, Dragonflies, Jigsaws and a Rainbow, was one of the five shortlisted entries, […]
Storytelling Workshop at Palm Groves
A group of parents got together and invited me to conduct a weeklong storytelling workshop at a housing society. Storytelling has never been more fun! Working with my own stories is a lovely experience in itself, and when the story comes with its own kit … The enjoyment reaches new levels! Here’s a group of children […]
Record Breakers at Cathedral Vidya School
Another set of Reading Challenge workshops came to an end yesterday. This time, the theme was ‘Record Breakers’, and the school that took it on was Cathedral Vidya School, Lonavala. Working with fifteen bright children from classes five to eight filled me with joy! Lipograms and pangrams brought much hilarity … The activity started in all seriousness and then […]
Travel the World: A Journey through Stories
I’m conducting a storytelling workshop this weekend at the British Library, Pune. Overview Every culture creates its own stories: to entertain young children, to teach them, and to attempt to explain the world. Through interactive storytelling, this workshop will give young children a glimpse of different cultures, allowing them to taste a little of the world! Day One […]
Reading and Writing Workshops at SGI, Kolhapur!
I spent three days at Sanjay Ghodawat International School, Kolhapur, and conducted a series of reading and writing workshops with 204 children as part of the British Library’s Reading Challenge programme. We worked on myths from around the world, read aloud Fragoline and the Midnight Dream and George and the Dragon, played with idioms, wrote stories … What fun it […]
Performing on 8 May!
I’ve lost count of the number of times people have asked me when we’re performing in Pune. Finally, here we go! The senior students of the Academy of Indian Dances bring to you a traditional Bharatanatyam programme, featuring a range of pieces that explore nritta, nritya and natya. Beginning with an invocatory dance, we move on […]
More First Prints!
I wrote not so long ago about the first prints of The Duronto Adventure and Bholu at the Level Crossing. The next two books for young readers are here! A little about these two books … Kevin has lost his lucky coin! Bholu volunteers to help him look for it, and Deven, Priya, Rohit and Ruth come along. Would […]