Paati Goes Viral by Prabhu Vishwanathan is such a sweet book! At my reading programme, I like to begin with a short book because it gives us the time to get to know one another and warm up. Also, when the book is short, we have more time for activities!Dhruv's grandparents are excited about travelling, but the best laid plans often go awry. When Thatha dies in his sleep, Paati no longer has the will to keep doing everything that makes her happy. Her family coaxes her into travelling alone, and everything goes well until Paati loses her camera. A camera that belonged to Thatha. It's social media to the rescue as the world comes together to recreate Paati's memories of her solo tour in this heartwarming book about helping one another.Here's what we'll do as we read the book together! Viral What do you think the word means? Do you think it is a … [Read more...]
My Favourite Chapter Books from 2021
Thanks to my book clubs, I read so many chapter books and early middle grade books in 2021! Of the 30-40 I read, here are nine books that stood out to me. I've shared most of them with my enthusiastic young book clubbers, and the review link will take you to activities that you can do with the book. As there are so many books, I decided not to include those I reread last year, sticking only to those I read for the first time in 2021. Muggie Maggie This one is such a delight that I've held on to my copy of it, in the hope that one day soon, bookstores will let me know that it is back in stock and I can introduce it to my book clubbers.Maggie is determined not to learn cursive. Unfortunately, her teacher has other plans: sneaky, ingenious plans. I love fictional teachers like her! In some ways, Maggie reminds me of Dick King-Smith's Sophie. She has … [Read more...]
Peanut vs the Piano
Peanut is such a lovely character!Peanut thought she enjoyed playing the piano. But with piano exams around the corner, piano practice is just one more thing added to an endless list of things she has to do when she would rather play outdoors. Soon, she begins to think of the piano as a big, brown monster. Even worse is that she simply cannot understand what her piano teacher means when he tells her to play with feeling. How is she supposed to play with feeling when the only thing she's feeling is hungry?Humour and excitement come together in this lovely little hOle book. Here's what we'll do with Peanut Vs the Piano at my reading programmes! Likes and Dislikes As this is the first book we will be reading at the February edition of my reading programme, talking about what we like and dislike is a fun way to begin. I often find that talking … [Read more...]
My Favourite Picture Books from 2021
Each January, when I look through my blog posts and my shelf on Goodreads, I realise how much I've read! As always, many of these books weren't published in 2021; I just read them in 2021.Through the course of the year, I read a range of picture books from wordless ones (which I love) to long, beautiful stories that are more suited to older readers. I've tried to arrange them on the basis of reading level, but with 18 books on the list, I kept shuffling the order because children and their reading levels are so different! My Street My Street, written by Sadaf Siddique and illustrated by Habib Ali, is a lovely wordless picture book that I read nearly a year ago now. It's such a treat!It's a perfectly ordinary day in a familiar neighbourhood - but even an ordinary day is full of colour and adventure.I ‘read’ with round eyes until I reached the end. What more could I ask for from a … [Read more...]
A Very Naughty Dragon
I love Paro Anand's books, and when I learned that she had collaborated with a nine-year-old girl to write a book, I was intrigued. As a teacher and creative writing trainer, I've read many stories that children have written. Some are excellent, others not so much. A Very Naughty Dragon? I had to read it to find out.I did, and I loved it. It starts slowly, with a lot of repetition that I associate with books for much younger children, but as I read on, I enjoyed it more and more. I love the place where it sits in terms of a story - between picture books and chapter books, full of colourful illustrations, but with enough text to make the story more than a book for very young readers.Draco is a Komodo dragon, determined to show his father that he can hunt. Surely he can catch a Timor deer! No, it's too fast.A civet cat? No again.A butterfly? Nope.But Draco doesn't give up. He tries again … [Read more...]
Staging a Script with Lav Kanoi
What an enriching scriptwriting session we had with Lav Kanoi on Saturday! Ah, there's nothing like a guest session to bring a fresh spurt of energy to our creative writing programme. "What is a story?" That's the question Lav began with.I like the question. What is a story, really? As we talked about it, we came to the realisation that a story can be anything. Can't it? But that leads to the question, is there anything that a story cannot be? The discussion that followed led to the idea of form, which brought us to the idea that various forms - a song, a play, a story, a film script - are different because they serve different purposes. One thing led to another, and through all the excited exchanges, one conversation stands out."A play wants to be performed," Lav said. "Sure, you can read it. But reading a play is incomplete. It wants more. It's like a tape. It wants to be … [Read more...]
The Butterfly Lion
I love Michael Morpurgo. And The Butterfly Lion? I've had it on my shelf for ever so long, hoping to share it with more readers someday. That day is nearly here!The Butterfly Lion is a classic. In Michael Morpurgo's signature style, he tells a heartfelt, almost mystical story in the simplest and most magical of ways. It's the story of love and kindness, friendship and loyalty.Bertie is heartbroken when his beloved white lion is sent away to the circus. He knows there is no choice, but that does not make it better. He promises the lion that he will find him, somehow, someday. But Bertie's story is a story within a story, told to a runaway boy Michael by an old lady who isn't everything she seems to be. As we learn about the butterfly lion, we explore the joy of memory and the ways in which we remember the ones we love.Like so many other older books, there are so many resources available … [Read more...]
Mira the Detective
Another reading programme, another hOle book! Mira the Detective by Pavithra Sankaran is perfect for my book club in so many ways. We love detective stories, and what better than a book featuring a child detective?When an antique watch is stolen, Mira has very few clues, but they have got to be enough! She must get to the bottom of the mystery.The theft of the antique watch is just the first of three mysteries that Mira the detective solves. What makes the stories even more fun is that we, as readers, are equipped with the same clues as Mira and we can solve the mysteries with her! Sounds and smells Working with our senses is something that never gets stale. In the first story, Mira hears a tic-tic-tic sound. What could it be? In the last story, an aroma is the biggest clue. I've worked with several activities to do with the senses before, and … [Read more...]
Manolita
In many ways, Manolita is a simple, old-fashioned tale. For a generation that's immersed in mythology - from the retelling of Indian myths to all the popular books that have their foundation in Greek mythology - I think a story about a selkie set in the modern world is perfect!Jaya makes friends easily, so it comes as no surprise that she befriends a stranger in Oregon. Of course, her new friend Manolita has to be perfectly human ... right? Even if she doesn't quite understand the phrase 'exchanging numbers', and she likes to eat her fish raw ...?The entire series of books that Karadi Tales has released under the Minmini Reads imprint is remarkable in many ways. Often, books of this length are for younger children, but a chapter book like this for slightly older readers works so well! It's a quick read, wholly satisfying and perfect as a conversation starter. Here's what we'll do … [Read more...]
Reva and Prisha
A chapter book featuring a family that has two mothers? Yes, please! The moment I saw that Funky Rainbow had Reva and Prisha by Shals Mahajan in stock, I emailed them. I ended up buying six other books too, but that's another story. I loved this book! Like Timmi in Tangles, Reva and Prisha is a collection of little tales featuring the same characters. I loved the simplicity and madness of the stories. The story about eating drumstick particularly struck a chord with me because my little cousin (20 years ago) insisted that her drumstick had bones! The logical way in which Reva and Prisha understand things is delightful too. For instance, they overhear a teacher saying that stripes are slimming. Does that mean that if they wear enough stripes, they'll turn invisible? I adore the idea! My favourite tale, however, is 'Octopus Children'. If Amma finds it exhausting to wash the hands and … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- …
- 61
- Next Page »