Have you ever thought of Cinderella from the point of view of the mouse? No, not one of the sweet singing mice in Disney's version. Instead, from the point of view of a hapless mouse who becomes a steed for one night. What happens to the mouse after Cinderella gets her 'happily ever after'? Does the mouse get its own happily ever after? Carthick's Unfairy Tales had me chuckling more than once. Full of wit, with surprises lurking at every corner, each story was thoroughly enjoyable. Yes, I did get annoyed in places because of Indianisms that, for me, jarred with the retelling of European fairy tales. Even so, the book was so much fun that I kept reading, curious to know what would happen next and what new turn a well-known story would take. From "Goldilocks" to "Jack and the Beanstalk", Carthick twists seven familiar tales into new stories that resonate with anyone who has … [Read more...]
Tilly and the Time Machine
Just thinking about Tilly and the Time Machine makes me chuckle, even though I finished reading it a couple of days ago. It's been a while since I read such a lovely book written for seven-year-olds. Tilly's father is a scientist who works for the government. Unfortunately, it seems as if his work is below expectations, so they have to let him go. The way Tilly sees it, letting him go seems to be a good thing. He has more time at home, he doesn't have to go to work, and Tilly can do lots of fun stuff with him (like jumping out of her window for him to catch her) - particularly important because Tilly's mother died not so long ago. When Tilly's father invents a time machine, of course Tilly knows how far back she wants to go. Sure, she is supposed to be presenting the Victorian age in her school project, but the Victorian age pales in comparison with what Tilly has in mind. … [Read more...]
Unique Flavours
Wanderlust. I write about it so often. Yearning is lovely. But sometimes, the joy of travelling is not in the yearning; it's in the humour. It's in the crazy things that happen all the time, all around us. When I travel, I try to eat things that are typical to the place I'm visiting. It was Spaghetti Bolognese in Bologna, though I dislike pork. Fishy things in Calcutta, though I don't like fish. You know. But sometimes, local food is unaffordable, or just inaccessible. Then, I try to get something that I can finish on my own - and roti sabzi does not fit the bill. I can never finish it. In Chandrapur, about 150 km away from Nagpur, I was at a hotel that served nothing typical of the region. So, I came to the second option. What could I finish? Lasagna! Why not? Chinese food in India is uniquely Indian-Chinese, and has regional variations. Lasagna in a small town could be fun … [Read more...]
Big Books at the Writers’ Club
Aren't lit fests delightful? Last week, I was invited to St. Mary's School's first lit fest, and it was lovely. We walked into books like this one ... And we had a panel discussion where we spoke about stories, poems, writing, dancing and music. We then visited classrooms and saw the work the children had put together through the course of the year - book reviews, poetry, charts, models ... And we saw eight big books that the tenth standard girls had made for the prep school children. I saw those books and knew I had to share them with my Writers' Club, so I invited Remanika and Riya to talk to the girls and share their books with us. Here's one of our favourites - Mr Banana Climbs a Tree. Mr Banana wants to meet a lady bird, who lives on top of a tree. He begins to climb, but there are all kinds of obstacles - bats, a noisy crow and monkeys. The monkeys are the … [Read more...]
The Peculiars
Kieran is one of only two male Reception class teachers on the Isle of Wight.His days mainly consist of singing nursery rhymes, tying shoelaces, trying to locate who has had an ‘accident’ by sense of smell alone, and vast, endless mountains of paperwork. Author profile on Goodreads Aren't you interested already? Writing good author bios is an art. I remember the first one I had to write. I spent a day agonising over it and then asked my father to do it. He was much amused - I never ask for writing help - and he did it in three minutes. The Peculiars intrigued me for many reasons. The cover, of course, is lovely. Secondly, I do like Chicken House as a publisher. I like the fact that at the back of the book, they tell you which page to read to give the book a try. (I never do it, but I like the idea anyway.) And I love the three words they choose to describe the book. Hot Key books … [Read more...]
Our Own Voices
I just skimmed through yet another article about how, growing up, we associated 'white people doing white things' with 'people doing people things'. This is an idea that I have to confront all the time, for racism is everywhere. It has forms that we unwillingly perpetuate too. For instance, I have an Indian friend who is studying in the US, and she is not working on South Asian writers. This is something she repeatedly has to defend. "Why don't you work on your own culture?" everyone asks. In the beginning, this is a seemingly harmless question. In fact, it is a relevant question, even an important one, when we look at representation and diversity. Yet, very soon, this begins, insidiously, to translate into the idea that brown people must write about brown people. Must I write about my own culture? How is this a duty that I must fulfil while western writers may write fantasy … [Read more...]
Paradise End
Especially when I'm struggling with my writing, I find myself wondering all kinds of things. What makes a good book? What keeps me reading? When do I roll my eyes at melodrama, and when do I have to swallow a gulp in my throat? Where are all these boundaries? Also, I'm a picky reader. I used to beat myself up about not finishing books, but I think somewhere along the line as a literature student, I realised that it was impossible for me to read everything I wanted to read. There were books I actually enjoyed but could not finish. Middlemarch comes to mind, but there were many others. When I started reading Paradise End by Elizabeth Laird, I was overly critical. There were parts where I got thoroughly annoyed with the protagonist Carly, but then, I warmed to her and to her story. And I realised yet again that for me, the greatest stories are stories of … [Read more...]
History Mysteries: The Last Tiger
The Last Tiger broke my heart. The thylacine - what a wonderful, curious animal. A pouched dog with a wolf's face. A dog with stripes. The Tasmanian tiger. At the Asian Festival of Children's Content last month, I attended a talk by the history hunter, Mark Greenwood. It was a talk that filled me up. His storytelling brought me so close to tears that I ended up impulsively buying a book of his. (I would have liked to buy them all, but my pocket didn't permit it.) Despite all the emotion that prompted me to buy his book, I somehow didn't end up reading The Last Tiger until yesterday. Perhaps that was to eke out the feeling of a special kind of storytelling, but also, perhaps I was frightened of being disappointed. I was not: I loved The Last Tiger. When I was about ten years old, I read an entire Childcraft encyclopedia, Nature in … [Read more...]
Boy 87
Boy 87 came frighteningly close to becoming too much for me as a reader. As I read on, there was one stage where I was filled with a sickening sense of dread. I remembered Chalkline, which I could not finish reading because it was so well told that the story was overwhelmingly traumatic for me - more than I could take. And then I also remembered The Bone Sparrow, a wonderful tale of war and hope. Boy 87 fits somewhere between the two. At the stage when I was not sure if I could read on, I quickly skimmed through a few of the concluding pages. Was Shif going to be betrayed? Was something terrible going to happen? I never do this. But the dread was so sickening that I knew I would not be able to read it if things grew more traumatic. Boy 87 is about 14-year-old Shif, who is put into prison - not for something he does but for something he is going to do. … [Read more...]
Reading, Writing, Dancing
Two weeks ago, I asked the children at my Writers' Club whether they would like to make readers laugh or cry. Three girls said they wanted to make readers laugh. 12 said they wanted to make readers cry. When a few said they would like to do both, those who had already raised their hands dithered. Finally, though, most agreed that making readers cry was more important. This was both surprising and not. Funny books that sparkle with humour are wonderful. Yet, I do know that the books that stay with me are books that make me cry. The best ones do both. I then asked the children what makes them cry in books. These were difficult conversations, by the way, and I was warmed by how much the girls opened up. A 12-year-old is not always comfortable talking about crying in front of a 9-year-old. The fact that they did - and passionately - was lovely. They spoke of happy moments … [Read more...]
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