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...]
Mini’s Money
Sometimes, when I pick up a book for children, I wonder, "What would I have thought of this as a child?" Mini's Money would probably have appealed to me, but what really made me stop and think was the idea of colouring the story. Colouring in a book was a strict no for me, but would this series have changed that?Perhaps it would, for I enjoyed the book!Mini's Money is an early chapter book, perfect for voracious young readers. Many 5- and 6-year-old readers have already moved beyond short, 32-page picture books full of colour. They want more story, but pictures remain comforting. The theme of the book needs to be child-friendly and age-appropriate too, for their experience of the world is limited, even if their reading ability is greater than that of other children their age. In that sense, Mini's Money is ideal.Mini is young and naive, not yet equipped to understand how … [Read more...]
Happy Book News
On Saturday afternoon, the doorbell rang. It was a courier. For me. From Penguin Random House.When you receive an unexpected package, do you try to guess what it could be? I do. It was a slim package, so the easiest guess would be that it contained one book.But why would Penguin send me one book? Could it be a calendar? On the 6th of February? Or a review copy? But surely someone would have written to me saying they wanted a review!I opened it to find one copy of The Clockwala's Clues. There was no letter, nothing. I had no idea why my publisher would send me a copy of my book.So I wrote to my editor.Why did I receive another copy of The Clockwala's Clues?Probably a reprint! came the reply.Already? The book is less than two months old! But I was excited, so I opened the plastic wrap and looked to see if it said anywhere that it was a reprint. No. Nothing. Oh, well.My … [Read more...]
Online Reading Programme – Looking Back
Magic potions.Superpowers. Word games.Adjectives, homophones, homonyms, mazes.Codes, recitation, performance.What fun my first reading programme was! The first book we read together was Trouble with Magic by Asha Nehemiah. A reading programme involves more than simply reading the book, though, so we used our imaginations. What would we get if we put different ingredients together? A medicine? A magic potion? An explosion?Each of the children came up with something different, and it was such fun! Take a look at just one of them. Our second book was Shrinking Vanita by Manjula Padmanabhan. Apart from word games, where we attempted to unscramble words from the book, we created our own superheroes. What if everyone suddenly shrinks to half their size? … [Read more...]
Amelia Bedelia Means Business
Amelia Bedelia. The name just asks you to read it aloud. And what a character Amelia is! As with the very best fictional characters (I'm thinking of Anne Shirley, Pippi Longstocking and the like), Amelia's personality leaps out of the pages. She makes you chuckle at her sheer optimism, at her zest and her drive. Obstacles? What are those?Amelia sees Suzanne's new bike and knows she has to get one for herself. But her parents are unwilling to give her an advance Christmas-cum-birthday present. What they are willing to do, however, is meet her halfway. If she can find a way to pay half the price, they'll pay the other half. Amelia and her father shake hands, and they have a deal.The problem, though, is Amelia's tendency to take things literally. Idioms are puzzling. Ways of speaking make no sense. So, when she's working at a restaurant and a customer asks her for 'a pie - and step … [Read more...]
Hungry to Read
If there was one thing that could push you to read, what would that be? How would you get someone who doesn't like reading to read?When Arjun's teacher announces a competition in school, Arjun is thrilled - until he learns that it is a reading competition. He is no reader; he likes logic, facts and all things mathematical. The problem is that the prize is so attractive that Arjun is tempted. The question, though, is how far he is willing to go to help his class to win.The reasons I chose Hungry to Read for my reading programme are very different from the reasons I chose every other book. More than having enjoyed the book, I love the possibilities it has when it comes to activities and conversations. Here is some of what I will do with the book.Scavenger huntI love book scavenger hunts! We'll do a quick one with this book, simply to start a conversation on the different … [Read more...]
How to Be a Writer
My online creative writing programme served as the perfect excuse to get a copy of How to Be a Writer. And as I read it, every few lines, I found myself thinking, "This, exactly this!" For the first time, I highlighted sections all over the book (ebook, not physical book, just saying) simply because so much of it resonated with me. In some places, I was drawn to the words as a writer; in others, as a teacher of creative writing.Instead of my usual kind of review, I'm going to share tiny excerpts of the book.If I talk too freely about a story I am going to write, chances are it will never be written. I have talked it to death.This is me! I can never, ever talk about my current works in progress. I used to think it was superstitious nonsense, but I realise that what Bond says above is true for me. It's also the reason why I don't usually plot my stories. If I know what's going … [Read more...]
Giggi and Daddy and Four Others
Yes, this post is about five picture books I read last week, but Giggi and Daddy is special, so special that I think it's probably one of my favourite picture books of all time! I bought a bunch of books at Pickle Yolk Books' birthday sale and ah! I could read all of them over and over again.And on that note, if you haven't yet had a look at their sale yet, do. It is on right through the month of October. Of my treasures, I read The Tree Boy first. I was intrigued by the title and the illustrations, plus, the writer is a friend. I've read and loved several of her other books - It's a Laddoo Party! on StoryWeaver is one that I've used multiple times during workshops, I attended the launch of her award-winning The Clever Tailor ... It was time to read another.And I loved it! The artwork, the layout and the story itself come together to create a gorgeous, … [Read more...]
Creative Writing with Children
Every time I work with children on creative writing, I realise why I enjoy it so much. Each interaction is full of laughter, fun, and most joyous of all--moments when children finally understand something and it shows on their faces. I'm still elated after yesterday's online creative writing session!Since I launched the programme on the 5th of October, I've had a regular routine. Early in the morning, I log on to my forum. What will I find? Which of the writers would have contributed something delightful?One morning, I discovered a letter to be placed in a high technology envelope that could be opened and closed with a button. Another morning, I discovered a list of words that one of the young writers loves - goofy, amazing, surprise ... And soon, I will find a set of limericks. I can't wait to read them!Yesterday, as usual, my session was full of all kinds of activities. I … [Read more...]