I had decided what I would write about today, but was moved to tears more than once by everything students and colleagues from Vishwashanti Gurukul said to me, wrote to me and gave me. One student said, “I used to hate Shakespeare, but you made me fall in love with Macbeth.” Another confessed, “I have […]
Fun 4 Kids
It’s workshop season! The Cultural Centre, Pune, is a new space in Mundhwa for different activities and programmes. “Fun 4 Kids” is a venture into a range of activities for children. I will be facilitating the ‘Literature’ activities with reading and writing workshops once a month. The poster says it all!
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
“How about watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?” a friend’s mother suggested when I was about eleven. I giggled. “What a funny name! What is that?” “You mean you haven’t read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?” Eyes wide open in amazement. And that is how I came to watch the old BBC movie […]
The Red Dress
As a child, I did not like anything about anything awkward. I did not like dirt (even though I asked my father where the Famous Five went to the loo and how they had baths when they went camping). I did not find ‘dirty’ humour funny, even humour aimed at children. I liked politeness and […]
Hello? Is Anybody There?
If you go to the moon, you would go up. But when you reach the moon, you land. You go down. And if you are on the moon and you look up, you will see the earth. That means that somewhere between here and the moon, up becomes down and down becomes up. I started […]
Parents and Kids Choice Awards – Last Day to Nominate
For once, I’m taking on the role of marketing my work! If you like The Story-Catcher, do nominate it for the Parents and Kids Choice Awards! Because this is one award that does not depend on sales, publicity or distribution.
International Children’s Book Day
Yes, today is International Children’s Book Day, a time for me to look back at all the wonderful children’s books I’ve read this year!
Kung Fu Panda 2
There’s nothing like a happy movie to raise your spirits when you have a cold and feel like doing nothing. And Kung Fu Panda 2 was as delightful as the first! Inner peace. I like inner peace.
Toro! Toro!
Is it true that the most moving books must be placed during wartime? How strange that the moments of greatest human kindness come during the cruelest of times! Toro! Toro! is not like the other Morpurgos that I have read, insomuch that it is not about the second world war at all. Yet, it is about […]
Winding Up – Creepy House Reading Challenge
Today, I will be part of the award distribution, the final get-together of all the participants of the Creepy House Reading Challenge at the British Library, Pune. Four workshops over the course of two months with children aged anywhere between 5 and 13. What fun it was! We’ll talk about what we learned, how we […]
Parents and Kids Choice Awards
Do you like The Story-Catcher? If you’re a parent or a child who likes my collection of short stories, do nominate it for the Parents and Kids Choice Awards! The idea of the award is lovely – an award that is not inspired by sales and popularity, but by the place it holds in your […]
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips
The best stories are the simplest ones of all. And who better than Michael Morpurgo to write simple stories so simply that they charm you? Boowie receives a letter from his grandmother, not very long after the death of his grandfather. It is undoubtedly the most remarkable letter of his life. As part of the […]
The Great Escape
The story of two dogs and a cat during the second world war brought to mind an aspect of war that I had never considered. What happened to all the animals, particularly pets, during the war? Startling statistics that Megan Rix has included after the novel reveal that there were far more animals killed during […]
Yellow Shoes
Today is World Storytelling Day. Here is a story to celebrate the day! If you like it, use it. Read it out to children. Make them imagine and colour – spread the joy of storytelling! Alka sat down on the floor to tie her shoelaces. Weekends were fun. She could meet everyone, play […]
Girlie
When I was five years old, I moved from Vashi to Pune. There, I came across a strange word – ‘girlie’. If you didn’t know a girl’s name (yes, I went to a girls’ school), you would say, “Excuse me, girlie, what is your name?” The word felt awkward in my mouth. Girlie.What would I […]
Ace
I always link my book reviews to amazon.in for people to buy the book there, but when I searched for Dick King-Smith’s Ace, the first thing I found was a hardcover priced at ₹12,527.41 + ₹99 delivery charge! I did find a copy that’s cheaper, though, and that’s a mercy; however much I enjoyed the […]
What I used to write …
I transcribed the story of the dame who hated plants some time ago, but found this in a drawer while I was hunting for inspiration –
British Library Workshops
In the display window of ‘Chapter and Verse’
Private Peaceful
Charlie … Charlie … Charlie …I want to meet you, get to know you, look up and admire you. I wanted to sob my heart out when I finished reading Private Peaceful.I wish I hadn’t read it. It was so painful, so filled with a sense of injustice, so cruel.I feel privileged to have read […]