I launched my online reading programme for ages seven and eight in December last year, which means that this is the sixth edition of the programme. Each time, I’ve focused on Indian books – books written by Indians, published in India or set in India – usually all three. On the whole, I’ve tried to avoid the big names in children’s literature, mainly because one of the goals of the book club is to introduce children to books they might not otherwise read. Yet I have included well-known names – Roald Dahl and Dick King-Smith twice each, for instance!
And so, this time, I’m introducing a book by Ruskin Bond, Cricket for the Crocodile. It’s shorter than the books we usually read, but that should give us more time for bookish activities!
Ranji is determined to be a Test cricketer, and his team comes from different parts of town. Sometimes, they even need to let the adults take part because finally, their equipment and pocket money is supplied by the grown-ups. It’s just a hardship they must bear. A regular spectator at their cricket matches is Nakoo, a crocodile who lives in the river. During a match against their regular rivals, the village boys, Nakoo sneaks out and becomes more than just a silent spectator, leading to much hilarity and quite a memorable match!
Told in Ruskin Bond’s signature style, Cricket for the Crocodile sparkles with humour and fun. Here’s what we’ll do with the book at my reading programme!
Alliteration
Playing with alliteration and tongue twisters never becomes stale. We’ll begin by revising the term alliteration and we’ll go on to creating alliterative titles that follow the same pattern – Badminton with Bandicoots! Football with Foxes! What else?
Moving on from here, we will also play with tongue twisters. Children (and adults!) adore tongue twisters!
Invent a Game
This is an imaginative activity, which requires a lot more time than the ones I usually do at my book club. I will give each child a list of things that they can use to make up a game of their own.
For example, you have a red ball, a yellow ball and a stopwatch. What’s the game going to be?
More Games
A book about a sport is also the perfect introduction to more games that we can play together. From vocabulary to word puzzles and guessing games, we can do all kinds of things that promise to be fun!
Join a programme!
Registrations are now closed for all batches of my reading and writing programmes. The next set of reading programmes will begin in the first week of December. Registrations open in early November.
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