Fantastic Mr Fox is a classic. And the combination of Roald Dahl and Sir Quentin Blake is magic.I've never yet chosen a Roald Dahl for my reading programme because I reckoned that most children would already have been exposed to his books, and a book club is about discovering books you haven't read before. Yet, as I mulled over what to include this time, I asked myself, again, what the purpose of a reading programme is. Often, I use the tagline 'Celebrate the joy of reading'. If it's about the joy of reading, how can I not include books I've adored and devoured as a child?Rereading Fantastic Mr Fox now, I'm astounded at how much I liked it when I was younger. I was never one to like disgusting humour. I didn't like toilet jokes. I didn't like anything that was yucky. What made Dahl different?I think, possibly, it was the fact that the disgust was not the point of the story. Also, when Mr … [Read more...]
Workshops Launching in May and June 2021
I've received an overwhelming number of queries this time around, and I'm not surprised. Summer holidays! Registrations are now open for two reading programmes beginning on the 1st of June.Do note that with lockdowns in several places, book deliveries are experiencing delays. I will try to get the books to you in time for the programme, but the sooner you register, the easier it will be for me. Online Reading Programme (Ages 7 to 8) We're on the fourth edition of this programme, and the four books we will read this time are The Monster Hunters by Parinita Shetty, Bookasura by Arundhati Venkatesh, Esio Trot by Roald Dahl and At Least a Fish (Zain & Ana Book 1) by Anushka Ravishankar. On popular demand, I have also launched a weekend batch of the same online reading programme! Details Dates: 1st June to 9th July 2021Dates for the weekend … [Read more...]
Maya Saves the Day
Earlier this month, we read Maya in a Mess at my reading programme, and one child volunteered, "I've read the book that comes before Maya in a Mess.""Did you like it?" I asked.She nodded. "I read it four times."Now, if that isn't endorsement, I don't know what is! I enjoyed Maya Saves the Day thoroughly too! What I loved most about it is that it is told entirely from the point of view of a child who is a bundle of contradictions. On the one hand, she has all kinds of fears. She's scared of crows, whooshing mango trees and dark places. On the other hand, she's completely secure - when she's separated from her parents at a mall, she does not become afraid. Instead, she's angry with her parents for being so careless as to get lost. Maya is a very special combination of humour, solemnity and madness. In the same way as she cries MAYDAY! in Maya in a Mess, we find a confident girl here … [Read more...]
Writing about Cyber Crime
What a fun session we had with digital forensic investigator Shweta A. Chawla yesterday! The children had all kinds of questions, and all kinds of stories. Nearly every child had a story of a parent or relative receiving a call and asking for an OTP or bank details. It just shows you how close cyber crime is to us! One child said, "We should keep changing our passwords, but it's difficult to remember them. So I write them in an Excel sheet." Before Shweta could respond, he said, "The Excel sheet is password protected."And I found myself thinking, Do I even know how to create a password-protected Excel sheet? We spoke of how stories no longer need masked robbers going into banks with guns, and the fact that you are much more likely to encounter a hacker online than a smuggler. Sure, we love our Enid Blyton stories of smuggling and crime, but perhaps stories can reflect something … [Read more...]
Books and Important Conversations
No, I don't believe that every book needs to teach us something. Absolutely not. I read to laugh, have fun and unwind. Yet, every so often, I come across a book that invites discussion and makes me think. At my reading programme for ages 9 and 10, we're reading Flying with Grandpa. Yesterday, we were to read the section where Grandpa refuses to eat. He makes a fuss and keeps banging his fork on the table. I paused as I reread this section in preparation for my reading session. The children at my book club had clearly said that they had never encountered adults behaving like children. The idea, to them, was absurd. I knew we needed to have a conversation - about dementia, Alzheimer's and growing old. There would be no better time than this, but how could I go about it? A Story I lost my grandfather six years ago. He was a remarkable man, a retired Air Vice Marshal, whom I … [Read more...]
Writing about Cyber Crime
During my writing programme last year, I met many children who wanted to write detective stories. What would a detective story involve? How did investigations really happen?This got me thinking.What could I do that would be new and unusual? I've never solved a crime. I have no inside knowledge. And if children (and I!) don't want to write about smugglers and private islands and the like, what detective stories can we write?My answer was cyber crime. And that led to the very first guest session of my creative writing programme. About the Facilitator Shweta A. Chawla is an independent digital forensic investigator with over 15 years of experience in digital forensic and cyber investigations. She is the founder and chief investigator at SC Cyber Solutions, and has acted as consultant to various police departments in investigations into cyber crimes. Shweta is … [Read more...]
The Very Glum Life of Tootoolu Toop
A fully trained ten-year-old witch chooses to live with regular human beings. The premise itself is delightful. Sure, you want to be a witch or a wizard. You want to do magic. But have you ever thought about the other side of the story? The magical creatures who want to be part of a regular world? Enter Tootoolu Toop, who loves books and regularly sneaks into the cottage of an old lady nearby to “borrow” what she can. She’s forced to do this because ever since the great war, the written word has been banned in the magical world, and witches from Tootoolu's tribe have hidden themselves underground. Is this the life Tootoolu wants for herself? Of course not! Soon, with the help of her grandmother, she takes the big step. She leaves her tribe and goes off in search of a glum* (read non-magical) family that would be willing to adopt her.[*I love that 'glum' is written with a small 'g'. … [Read more...]
Workshops During a Pandemic
Last week, I started reading Maya in a Mess with my book club for seven and eight-year-olds. As part of the discussion, I asked them, "Have you ever been a monitor in class? How do you feel?" "I feel like a king!" said one child."I love it," said another. "You don't have to just stand in line with the others. You can actually do things.""It feels good," said a third. "You feel responsible." One avid reader in the batch isn't seven yet, but she's at par with the others. When it was her turn, she said, "I haven't ever been a monitor." "Do you want to be a monitor?" I asked. There was a minuscule pause. "I don't know. I've never been to proper school. When I was in kindergarten, we didn't have monitors. Last year, it was all online. So I don't know what it would be like to be a monitor." My heart broke just a tiny bit. I've never been to proper school.Sigh. … [Read more...]
Once Upon an Alphabet
Stories are made of words and words are made of the alphabet. What if there was a special story for each letter of the alphabet?That's the premise of this zany, wonderful book, Once Upon an Alphabet, by Oliver Jeffers. My father bought the book for me some three years ago, or so I understand. And he forgot to give it to me. My mother and my sister just assumed that I had seen it and left it there because I'm not a hoarder, because I didn't want to take it right away, because ... because.But the truth is that I didn't know of its existence until last week, when I brought it home and devoured it. What a fun, grand book it is! I gasped at the genius of it, chortled at the fun and rolled my eyes at the silliness. And I loved every page. This kind of writing comes from brilliance that's at an altogether different level. A is for astronaut, for instance. But Edmund, who wants to be … [Read more...]
When the World Went Dark
I was fortunate that I didn't have to deal with death when I was a child. Yet, I was terrified of people dying. My father remembers a day when I stood on the terrace, watching for my mother who was to return from work. My fear - when I was about ten years old - was What if she died? Where do these fears come from? I have no idea.Are we equipped to deal with them? Not really. Books like When the World Went Dark are a step in a direction that I believe can help. Yes, it's a book to give to children who are trying to cope with grief and loss. But equally, it is for children who are not. Only if they are prepared - in whatever way - can they come to terms with what loss is. When the World Went Dark is a timely book, set in the lockdown, a period of gloom for children and adults. Children cannot go out to play; everyone is afraid of setting a toe outside the house. When Swara … [Read more...]
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