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 Lock and Key and Polo and Crocodile-Crocodile and Zoop and...“It's time to throw away this terrible pair,” said Alka's mother, looking down at Alka's blue shoes – her favourite pair for running.“No, Mamma, please!” said Alka, looking up, alarmed. “Please, Mamma, it's my favourite pair, really! I'll never ever get a pair like this again! How will I play?”Her mother smiled. “But look at the state they're in, Alka, they're falling to bits. You can barely see that they were once blue, and the sole is completely torn!”“But they're my favourite pair ...”“All right, baby, I'll tell you what,” … [Read more...]
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 call a boy I didn't know? Boyie? It was incomprehensible and most confusing.But, aged five, I wanted to fit in. So I started saying 'girlie'. Excuse me, girlie, could I borrow your pencil? Excuse me, girlie, you're sitting in my place. Excuse me, girlie, I put my bag there first. It's my bench.By the time I was twelve, we were laughing at girls who said 'girlie'. "Yuck. Who says 'girlie'?" Giggle, giggle, giggle. "Girlie!" Giggle, giggle, giggle.And now, rummaging through my memory, I wonder, do girls still say 'girlie' when they are five years old and then mock at the word when they are 12? … [Read more...]
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 book, even I wouldn't pay so much for it!Ace is funny, lovable and altogether a hugely enjoyable half-hour's read. An author who has lost count of the number of books he has written has to be a master storyteller, and there's not doubt that that's exactly what Dick King-Smith is. If he's lost count of the number of books he's written, I've certainly lost count of the number I've read, and the number I've read more than once!Ace is the story of a pig. A non-pedigreed pig, mind you, but a descendent of the famous Sheep-Pig Babe. Ace is born with a remarkable mark of the ace of clubs on his side … [Read more...]
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 - … [Read more...]
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 it. It was so moving, so human, so gentle and so filled with love.My heart reached out to Tommo - who could have lived in Charlie's shadow, but never did. Instead, he basked in Charlie's glow. Tommo, little Tommo, is so human. He tells his story without reserve, without embarrassment. He gets angry with someone he worships. He adores without restraint. He knows that Charlie is everyone's hero. He is, and always will be, the other Private Peaceful. And he basks in his elder brother Charlie Peaceful's glowIt will take courage to read the book again. But I know I will. A powerful book like Private … [Read more...]
Express Yourself!
Sigh. And that's the end of another fun workshop at the British Library!We played, we laughed, we shared ideas. For once, I honestly believe the children enjoyed the workshop more than I did.One child had to explain the word 'FREEZE'. The rules were - no acting, no translating, no using the words 'ice', 'cold', 'still', 'fear' and 'move'. He stood, thinking, for a long time. Then he began, "Once upon a time, there lived an Eskimo. One day, he decided to go to Antarctica. He went all the way there and he made an igloo. But then on top of a mountain there, it was so chilly that he ..." … [Read more...]
My next workshop is tomorrow!
A custom-made workshop for the Reading Challenge at the British Library!Yes, each of these cards is hand-made. Each card contains a word from the Creepy House Reading Challenge.I've lost count of how many cards I made. … [Read more...]
Inspired by Taboo!
The next workshop I'm doing at the British Library promises to be fun!My father got a rubber stamp saying 'VARSHA SESHAN' long, long ago. I kept it safely. I visited a bookshop about six months ago and impulsively bought a stamp pad, but did not use it. I bought chart paper to make a lantern for Diwali (yes, five months ago) and never made the lantern.I put all of them together to make my own Taboo cards, using words that I found in books that are part of the Creepy House Reading Challenge. They look lovely; I'm waiting to use them!Suppose you have to get your team to say the word ‘breakfast’. You cannot act or translate. You can speak, making full sentences, but there’s another rule. You are given five words that you aren’t allowed to use! Without using the words ‘eat’, ‘morning’, ‘lunch’, ‘food’ and ‘dinner’, can you make your team say the word ‘breakfast’? Express yourself! Use … [Read more...]