Registrations are now closed for this reading programme. I was just about halfway through my first reading programme when parents started reaching out to me to check if there will be other batches. Even when I launched the first one, I knew I would continue the programme if enough people expressed interest. And so, here it is - the second edition of my online reading programme! What does a reading programme involve? Essentially, reading. As there are four books spread across 12 sessions, we take roughly three sessions per book. Naturally, this means that we do not read the entire book together. We read excerpts from the books together during each session, and then the children read in their own time before the following class. During each online interaction, we do not just read; we also imagine, create, play and talk. We do activities around the books and try … [Read more...]
My Year in Dance – 2020
Each year, I write about all our performances, all our little dance anecdotes and all the travel that goes with dance. This year? We had a whole new set of dance experiences. I wrote about going online with our dance classes and everything that went with it, but already, less than six months after I wrote that post, so much has changed. It's wonderful how much more comfortable my teacher is with the online medium. What I love is how generous she is when it comes to giving credit where it is due! Nisha taught her how to leave and rejoin 'the shortcut way', as she calls it. She knows how to mute and unmute. She can pin and unpin. Changing the layout is easy too, as is working with all the delays and lags. It's grand!We also managed to hold our very first online dance programme for our younger students! We try to do something for Dashami each year, and here are a few glimpses of what 2020 … [Read more...]
My Year in Writing – 2020
I'm beginning to write this post on a day when I received a miserable royalty report for one of my books for the year 2019-20. Yet, the year 2020 has been all kinds of wonderful in terms of publishing for me. So many of my projects have seen light of day, though they have suffered for it too, thanks to the pandemic. With ecommerce, distribution and retail taking a blow, perhaps it was not a great year to have books release. But how can I not be happy to see my work out there? Poetry Creatures of the Dark Published by Oxford University Press Buy Roots 5 January 2020 brought me my first publication of the year, and it was a first in many ways. It was the first time I had something published in a textbook, the first time I could download an app and watch an animated video of my poem, and the first time … [Read more...]
My Year in Workshops – 2020
2020 was a tough year, such a tough year that it's become rather redundant to say it. Many of us had to step out of our comfort zones and do things differently.For me, of course, it was no different. For several years now, workshops have been my prime source of income. I've had my writers' club at St. Mary's School, teacher training sessions for Ratna Sagar, and the odd workshop here and there with libraries. When my fifth year at the Writers' Club came to an end in February last year (was it really not even a year ago?), I was all set for a short vacation, before getting to work again. April and June are often busy months at Ratna Sagar. I conduct teacher training sessions all over the country, and so, I usually find myself travelling and working right through these months with few breaks in the middle. In fact, I already had workshops scheduled for May and June, so I was making plans … [Read more...]
Top 14 Picture Books I Read in 2020
I read so many picture books each year that I'm sure I've missed out at least a few that I read and loved in 2020. Also, I find it difficult to review picture books in detail, so this is just a list, with links to earlier posts I wrote about the books, or, in the case of books I read on StoryWeaver, links to the books themselves. The Manasa Series I love meeting the same character again and again, so the Manasa series is special!Manasa Finds a RainbowA Hairy ProblemWho's That in the Mirror? Art is Everywhere Imaginative and fun - I love all three books in this series too!Art is Everywhere - Here, There and in Everyday ObjectsArt is Everywhere - Here, There and in FoodArt is Everywhere - Here, There and in Trash More Books on StoryWeaver This is a random assortment, including a wordless picture book and one book in Hindi!Ikru's First Day of … [Read more...]
Top Six Young Adult Books I Read in 2020
I've already shared two lists of books, but I think it's important to say - again - that reading levels differ widely, and in multiple ways. For instance, I know that as a child, my linguistic level (in English) was higher than that of some of my peers, but I often read books for children who were younger. I was still reading what was clearly children's literature, while friends of mine had 'graduated' to murder, romance and thrillers. A list of any kind must be taken with a pinch of salt, and this one is no different.With that out of the way, here are six young adult books I read and loved last year. Ben's parents want to conduct an experiment. They want to study different aspects of the same thing - his father is a behavioural scientist who is convinced that chimpanzees can learn a human language if the environment is conducive, and Ben's mother is writing a … [Read more...]
Top Nine Middle Grade Books I Read in 2020
I love middle grade reads, so this is my longest list this year. In no particular order, here are the books to which I gave a five-star rating in 2020.This is a book for keeps.More often than not, in India, books that address homosexuality are categorised as young adult or adult books, but with this book more than any others before, I disagree. To Night Owl from Dogfish is clearly a middle grade book. The characters, the themes, the tone - everything, for me, is middle grade. Avery and Bett learn that their dads are going to get married, and they start exchanging emails, laying plans to ensure that they don't get to know each other. They don't want two families to become one, thank you very much. They don't want to become sisters.Their fathers want to send them to summer camp together. They want to refuse to go and when that fails, they determine not to talk to each other. … [Read more...]
Top Five Chapter Books I Read in 2020
At the beginning of each year, I make a list of books I read and loved in the previous year, and I always begin with the same disclaimer - these books were not necessarily published in 2020. They came my way in 2020, and so I read them.One thing that I'm doing differently this year, however, is that I'm not listing ten books for each category. Rather, I'm just compiling the books that got a five star rating from me in 2020. It works better for me this way! So, here goes - in the reverse order that I read them. Manya dreams of becoming a famous actor. And of course, it's never to early to prepare your Oscar acceptance speech, is it? So, she practises it, tweaking it here and there, adding a bit, making sure she thanks the right people and slyly brings notoriety to those who pull her down...The first step towards achieving her dream is the school play, an … [Read more...]
Creating Memorable Characters with Sophie
And just like that, the third and last guest session for the current batches of my online writing programme is over. It doesn't feel like very long ago that I announced the programme, wondering whether there would be enough participants. I did not promise guest sessions because I knew it would depend on the response I received. It needed to be feasible to invite guest speakers, both in terms of the number of participants and in terms of my ability to pay the speakers. But here we go, two batches for two age groups are nearly over!Sophie's writing workshop was my third guest session, and it was lovely. Sessions where I learn something about methodology are always extra special. For instance, Sophie worked with excerpts from the classics, something I've never imagined doing. She chose tiny sections from Persuasion, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Lord of the Rings and Boy, amongst … [Read more...]
Workshop Anecdotes
So many little things happen during workshops! That's what makes them so much fun.For instance, my reading programme began on Tuesday and I started with Asha Nehemiah's Trouble with Magic. We spoke about all the wonderful things we'd invent because, in some ways, science and magic are pretty much the same thing. One child would invent a door. You step through the door and get to whatever place you want to go. You just have to tell the door where you'd like to be."And what trouble could you have with magic of this sort?" I asked.The boy thought for a bit. "If you don't speak clearly," he said, very clearly. "You could end up in the wrong place."Another child invented this - a vacation machine! Do notice how machine is spelt. Also, I love that the key words are there. No more and no less!At my writing programme yesterday, I had more fun. The children here are older and I … [Read more...]