Even when I read and reviewed Trunk Call for Ajju in June 2023, I knew it would be one of my book club reads soon enough. A book about children and animals always holds a special place in my heart, and elephants are extra special. Here's what we'll do as we read the book. Money-Making Ideas Children's business ideas are fascinating! If you had to raise money for a cause you believed in, what would you do? How do you think you could make money?Just like Making Millions and Amelia Bedelia Means Business, Trunk Call for Ajju is the perfect book to explore entrepreneurship! Talent Show Ajju and his best friend Karthik take part in a talent competition that they're determined to win. What would you do to win a talent show? In the past, at my book clubs, we've had all kinds of performances - piano, solving Rubik's cubes, the flute, recorder ... It's … [Read more...]
When the World Went Dark
I read When the World Went Dark one year after our first lockdown. And I wondered about including it at my book club. Grief is deeply personal. No one feels the way you feel. It almost feels unfair when people do.Even so, we do want to talk about our grief. Additionally, with any book, we take away what we want to take away from it. The lockdown, online classes and the fear of the virus are so real that I want children to read this, a book about their lived reality, one that acknowledges that not all adventures happen outdoors when we are free to run about and play. Book Discussion For When the World Went Dark, the discussion will lead the way. Children will want to talk about lockdown, loss, online school and more; I am sure of it. When the cook of one of the children at my book club caught covid, the child was so horrified he could not stop … [Read more...]
A Pinch of Magic
We've read Trouble with Magic at my book club; it's time to read the sequel! A Pinch of Magic is a fun read, full of surprises. I read and reviewed the book some time ago, and I'm excited to be introducing it to my book clubbers. Here's what we'll do with it. Innovative Address One of the first things that made me chuckle as I read A Pinch of Magic was the Maha Guru's highly accurate address. And this leads us to our first activity. How would you write your address if you did it in a similar fashion?I love linking screen time with the world around us. Looking around them, I want the children to tell me: what tree is closest to them? What is the shape of tree near the gate? How tall is the tree at the end of the lane? Together, we'll create an innovative address for each one of us! Label Design We thoroughly enjoyed creating different kinds … [Read more...]
The Diary as Story
In just a few weeks, yet another writing programme will come to an end! Yesterday was the third and last guest session of the season--a creative writing workshop with children's book author Sowmya Rajendran.I love it when guests reinforce something I've been talking about for a while. During yesterday's session, it was 'write what you know'. Of course, I do give children the opposite advice too--write what you don't know--but the point, for me, is to bring stories into familiar contexts.When Sowmya told us about how her book Mayil Will Not Be Quiet was born, she stressed that she and her co-author Niveditha Subramaniam wanted to write a book about being a child in India. What is it like to go to an Indian school? What sort of conversations do we have at home? This idea is well worth repeating, especially as most children continue to write stories about Michael and Felicity, who … [Read more...]
Stories: Comic-Page Style
What a rewarding session we had with Nandita Basu! At workshops like this one, I think I learn as much as the young writers who sign up.Step by step, Nandita led us through the creation of one page of narrative that brings together text and illustration in the style of a graphic novel. We launched straight into the workshop with an interesting prompt that made all of us think. We've all wronged someone at some point in our lives; there's been a time when we were needlessly nasty to someone who didn't deserve it. This formed the basis of the plot we went on to sketch over the next hour.Layouts, structure, characters, setting, conflict, emotion ... in a single hour, Nandita led us through the whole lot. How important is background when setting the context of our story? Is it all right to make stick figures rather than fully detailed characters? How large or small should the … [Read more...]
Green Stuff and Nonsense
What a fun session we had on green writing with Bijal Vachharajani! In a single hour, we spoke of a million creatures from elephants to frogs, ferrets to spiders, lion-tailed macaques to slugs that aren't slugs.Bijal's workshop was a guest session at my writing programme. We've just reached the end of our poetry module, so it was the perfect time to invite a guest to do a workshop for us, and I thought of Bijal because the Art is Everywhere series - which Bijal has co-authored - is one of my favourite sets of rhyming verse. I loved how she led us through the workshop yesterday, beginning with a free writing exercise for us to shed our inhibitions and get writing and then moving on to more structured writing.In the central element of the workshop, Bijal showed us seven images (all taken by one of her co-authors Radha Rangarajan), and asked us to write two lines of poetry about … [Read more...]
Kittu’s Very Mad Day
I remember meeting Harshikaa Udasi, author of Kittu’s Terrible Horrible No Good Very Mad Day at a lit fest several years ago. I had read her book already, but unfortunately, I had a Kindle edition, so I couldn't go up to her and get my copy signed. I told her that, and then, casually, a few days later, she texted me and asked me for my address. I sent it to her, and in a few days, I had a parcel at my door--my very own signed copy of the book!It's time to introduce this zany book to my book clubbers. Kittu is a more difficult read than the others in this time's selection, but I'm quite certain that won't make it any less enjoyable. Being Lost In the opening scene of Kittu’s Terrible Horrible No Good Very Mad, Kittu is lost. Unlike most other children who are lost, however, he seems to think of it as some sort of adventure. This is the perfect … [Read more...]
Unfair
I read Unfair quite some time ago, and what I loved most about it is how pacy it is. One chapter just rolls into the next, making it the perfect read for my book club. From discussing themes to exploring narrative voices and structure, there's so much I can do with a book like Unfair! Discrimination What does discrimination mean?At my writing programme last year, we worked on writing persuasive speeches, and I was stunned by the kinds of things children write. Two children - one boy and one girl - chose to write about gender equality, and both speeches were powerful in their own ways.Especially as my reading programme for ages nine and ten has an important creative writing element, we will begin with a discussion on discrimination, and move on to writing persuasive texts on the subject. Narrative Voices Unfair employs two narrative voices … [Read more...]
Earwig and the Witch
When I learned that Earwig and the Witch is a movie too, I debated a long time over whether to read it with my book club or not. Finally, I decided that whether the children I meet have watched the movie or not, we can read and enjoy the book together. In fact, those who've watched the movie will be able to compare book and movie, which is always an interesting exercise! Vocabulary Brainstorm Before we start reading Earwig and the Witch, we'll do a quick written activity on word association. What words come to mind when you think of the word 'orphanage'? How about 'adopted'? 'Witch'? 'Spells'? Once we have a few ideas, we'll get reading! Horror and Fantasy Horror is not a genre I work with often at my book club. In fact, it was after much hesitation that I introduced The School is Alive, and I've set aside several books that I know I would … [Read more...]
Kolam Kanna
October 2023 sees us reading another brand-new book, hot off the press! I read Kolam Kanna just about a month ago, and I loved it. What's not to love about a kolam-drawing child with friends who stand up for him? Here's what we'll do as we read this book. Kolam Have you read Susheela's Kolams? If we can, we will read the story together. But whether we can or not, we will try to make a kolam in class. I remember being fascinated by kolams because of the geometry and patterns. I was never good at drawing, but I loved the idea of creating a simple but quite fancy-looking kolam all based on a framework of dots.I've written about art integration before. It's an important part of learning! Themes All too often, book club discussions follow the … [Read more...]