This morning, I was reading Private Peaceful before I left for school. I glanced at my watch. Okay, one more paragraph. I read about Big Joe singing Oranges and Lemons in his attempt to pray for Molly. I glanced at my watch. Okay, one more paragraph. And one more. And one more. I just about did not get late for my bus.And so I decided to reread another favourite, The Butterfly Lion, which won my heart yet again.Michael Morpurgo, as always, combines innocence with wisdom to enchant both the child and the adult in me. Love, loyalty and determination - all these are age-old values that Morpurgo never turns into meaningless cliches.I know that as a writer, I shy away from stories which are pure and good. Yet, as a reader, I love these timeless tales. I love stories of goodness and nobility. When will I find the courage and maturity to write them? … [Read more...]
‘What happens next?’ at British Library
The afternoon's workshop at the British Library began with a presentation that helped the eight children understand the mood of terror. Sights and sounds, ghosts, enormous spiders, zombies, mummies and pirates found their way into ideas children expressed before they began to write.And then, I gave them their prompt - The crows cried out in the distance. Hundreds, thousands of crows perched on the roof of the old, empty house. Then, the door opened ...I was prepared for a creepy story. I got eight creepy stories.One wrote of the 'Door of No Return'. An old violinist opened the door ... A tremendous sound echoed. NEXT LEVEL! flashed the computer screen.Another wrote about three children being whisked away into a mirror in the haunted house. And then, the ghost of Mr Scribble Hopper wrote the names of the three children on a piece of paper listing the children he had killed.What … [Read more...]
‘Show and Tell’ at British Library
At the first of today's workshops at the British Library, children in the age-group 5-7 brought their favourite toys to talk about.There were two little creatures called Sita and Gita. A boy made up a story about how squeaky Sita and jingly Gita walked into his room while he was asleep. He was frightened, but understood when he woke up.There was a Lego space-shuttle. A girl made up a story about how the shuttle went to a place where aliens experimented on humans.There was a pink-roofed house with Lego girls. The house was, of course, haunted. The theme is Creepy House. And there was Croco - a crocodile whose teeth were yellow because no one ever brushed his teeth.What a delightful hour I had! … [Read more...]
British Library Workshop
The Illustrator of The Story-Catcher
I did not put up pictures from The Story-Catcher because the copyright isn't mine, but I found this on Rishi Bhardwaj's site and could not help sharing it. … [Read more...]
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Hermione Granger translates so well! I love her translations from the original runes.And of course, Albus Dumbledore's notes reveal his genius and insight, providing valuable information about interpretations of beloved fairy tales.J.K. Rowling, though, talks down to us Muggle readers, underestimating our knowledge of the magical world. … [Read more...]
Now
As usual, I judged a book by its cover and picked it up. An orange book, with two silhouetted figures - an old man and a child gazing at flames in the distance.Now promised to be more powerful than it was, or perhaps it just did not happen to me at the right time. The ideas there could have been deeply moving. A child grappling with guilt that does not have a foundation, similar to The Worry Tree I read not so long ago. An old man haunted by memories of the past, of the holocaust and the loss of loved ones. A child trying to be proud of the fact that her parents have sacrificed their lives to help people in Africa... but realising that more than pride, she feels rejection, over and over again.Now could have been more powerful, but left me with a sense of incompleteness. I wanted to be more moved. … [Read more...]
Collections
I once met a lady who collected Santa Clauses. She had over a thousand Santa Clauses, over half of which she had made using anything, from oil-cans to coconuts. She painted Santa Claus on glass bottles, or made a crochet Santa around a plastic bottle. She used the cover of a cheese-tin, a shankha, cane nets, ceramic pots, stones, rope, clay, everything, to make different kinds of Santas in different postures.My sister used to collect tissue paper. Wherever we went, she picked up a tissue paper. It became something she enjoyed so much that people started sending tissue paper from different places to her. I remember once a close friend of my father's even sent her a courier package full of tissue.As a child, I recognised it as a need to work towards a goal, a single-minded determination. I started collecting pencil-shavings. I collected one and put it in a small self-sealing bag. I … [Read more...]
Oxford Bookstore 2002
We know we belong to the previous generation when we complain about the way children waste time."How much we used to play!" A friend and I lamented about how students at school spend more time at their laptops than at anything else. They are a generation growing up with email and Facebook; they're attached to their laptops all the time."We used to be on the ground, playing in the sun.""Tree to tree, wall to wall...""Hundreds of things. Right until the time we left school."I fell silent. During my last two years of school, I really don't remember playing much. What did I do, then? I wondered.And then, I remembered.I wrote a book.On the 29th of August, 2002, just after I finished my tenth standard, I received this mail -We are delighted to let you know that you have been shortlisted for the E-Author Version 2.0 contest this year. We will be announcing the top three … [Read more...]
I love book-sales!
I never buy books. Never. I have too many books at home that I have not read.But what can I do when I find 70% (yes, SEVENTY PER CENT) off on a Michael Morpurgo collection? The Landmark sale is here! … [Read more...]