During the last academic year, a group of girls from St. Mary's School worked with me at the Writers' Club. They imagined, wrote and rewrote. Now, their work is available in the form of an anthology of poems and short stories! Flickering Flames, written by girls from classes VI and VII of St. Mary's School, is now available online. The proud authors are Advaya Venbakkam, Advika Dhar, Ananya Banerjee, Anika Garg, Anushka Shinde, Ashna Bhavnagarwalla, Jayde MacFarland,Lavanya Dua, Pareesa Irani, Rashmin Kaur Juneja, Riva Verma, Samiksha Deshpande and Tejasee Khurjekar. The illustrators (also girls from the school) are Advaya Venbakkam, Ananya Banerjee, Anika Garg, Ashna Bhavnagarwalla, Chahat Agarwal, Nandini Ghosh, Pareesa Irani, Paridhi Kumar, Riva Verma, Samiksha Deshpande, Shanaya … [Read more...]
Duronto and Level Crossing Resource Packs!
I wrote about first prints and the joy of having the resource packs in hand. But how could I cut up the one electric loco kit I had? Now, armed with a spare set, I'm ready to make my own electric loco model. As a child, I loved jigsaw puzzles. I loved them so much that I used to compete with myself as I tried to make my puzzles faster and faster. And I had enough puzzles to make a mat of puzzles on the drawing room floor. Do you see the whizzing hands? Old habits die hard! And then, we have stage one of the electric loco for The Duronto Adventure. We're cutting the sheets, slowly but surely. I cut badly, rarely in a straight line. But does that stop me from enjoying it? Never! The process is slow ... Working on it a little every day, and loving it! … [Read more...]
Writers’ Club – The Last Session
A whole year with my first batch of the Writers' Club at St. Mary's School is over! We've written all kinds of things. I've put a few pieces up on my blog; I've made the girls write and rewrite, write and rewrite ... We did poetry, prose and drama. We worked with back stories, plot and setting. We played all kinds of games and we did all kinds of activities. And it was fun. During my first session, 60 children showed up. I knew many of them would not keep at it. I reminded them, several times, that if their compositions improved, or they began to write answers better, these would be side benefits. I warned them that I expected assignments to be submitted on time. And finally, about 15 stuck with it. They continued to attend sessions, even though writing regularly was tough, and I kept making them rework their pieces. During the orientation for the next batch, the girls kept … [Read more...]
The Duronto Adventure Resource Pack
Of course I'm delighted with the books, but each book is also part of a complete resource pack! Each pack contains: A story A CD (with the ebook and lots of animation) A kit to build your own model of an electric locomotive! … [Read more...]
Two new books by Varsha Seshan!
It's been nearly four years since The Story-Catcher was published. Finally, here are two new books! Launched at the National Rail Museum yesterday, these books are currently available only at the Souvenir Shop of the museum. They are part of a kit that also contains a CD and an activity! Pictures of those will come soon ... The Duronto Adventure Chitra, Rohit, Priya and Deven are travelling by themselves for the first time. They are excited about their newfound independence, but little do they know that their journey is going to be even more adventurous than they imagine! When the train stops at Igatpuri and Rohit goes missing, Priya panics. Yet, this is only the beginning of a crazy ride ... Title The Duronto Adventure Author Varsha Seshan Illustrator Rishi Bhardwaj Genre Adventure Age-group 10+ Bholu at the Level Crossing Welcome to the … [Read more...]
Books I’ve Been Reading
Lots of travelling always means lots of reading! What better way to spend long train journeys? The Last Unicorn is a classic. If Patrick Rothfuss says it's the best book he has ever read, you know it's worth looking out for. Title The Last Unicorn Author Peter S. Beagle Genre Classic/Fantasy/Fairy Tale Rating (out of 5) 5 Age-group 10+ Among the most powerful books I have ever read, I now know that Theresa Breslin is an author I want to read more of! Title Prisoner of the Inquisition Author Theresa Breslin Genre YA/Historical Fiction Rating (out of 5) 5 Age-group 13+ I picked up this one because I was sure that a book called Travelling Backwards written by a person called Toby Forward had to be entertaining, at the very least. I was not disappointed. Title Travelling Backwards Author Toby Forward Genre Fantasy/Magic Rating (out of … [Read more...]
A Brand New Series of Books on Trains: Coming Soon!
Do you know who Bholu is? Since 2002, this friendly guard elephant has been the mascot of the Indian Railways. I'm delighted to be writing a series of stories for children, featuring Bholu, along with many other characters. The series will target two age-groups: Younger readers (aged 5-8) Older readers (aged 9-13) The books for younger readers will have Bholu at the forefront; the ones for older readers will be adventure stories -- all set in and around the Indian Railways. Coming soon - both in print at the National Rail Museum, Delhi, and as ebooks! … [Read more...]
Why not Indian literature?
I read article after article about how Indian literature for children is on the rise. I read about lit fests and how these promote Indian writers and Indian literature. I read about new publishers and new writers all over the country. I feel encouraged, thinking about my future (and present) as a writer. Yet, against all that optimism, a few things come to mind. I often play a game with children, encouraging them to find out what the others read. Recently, I watched sixty children running around enthusiastically as they played the game, shouting to one another. When they shared what they loved and hated reading, not a single Indian writer or book was named. In a Writers' Club that I conduct, children write about France and America and England and Australia, rarely India. I still meet Mary and Lucy, and even made-up names of various sorts, but rarely Indian … [Read more...]
Whale Boy
I don't know a single child who has read and not liked animal stories. I remember Animal Ark. I think of Gill Lewis's White Dolphin. There are hundreds of horse stories that I've read and loved - Stallion Club comes to mind immediately. Whale Boy is one of those beloved animal tales. Growing up in Rose Town, Dominica, Michael learns very early on to manage on his own. His mother was, according to his grandmother, 'not mother material', and abandoned him as a baby. His father went to London in search of her and never returned. Legend says that there is a place where the waters run deep enough to lose the highest mountain. That's where the whales come - so many that you can walk on their backs. Yet, sperm whales were the victims of generations of whalers. There are no whales left on the island ... or are there? Michael discovers that it may just be dangerous to find out. Befriending … [Read more...]
The Story-Catcher: A Review by Arushi Upadhyaya
Some time ago, I mentioned a book review of The Story-Catcher by 9-year-old Arushi Upadhyaya. Finally sharing the whole review here! It made me smile all over again. … [Read more...]
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