Another reading programme, another hOle book! Mira the Detective by Pavithra Sankaran is perfect for my book club in so many ways. We love detective stories, and what better than a book featuring a child detective?
When an antique watch is stolen, Mira has very few clues, but they have got to be enough! She must get to the bottom of the mystery.
The theft of the antique watch is just the first of three mysteries that Mira the detective solves. What makes the stories even more fun is that we, as readers, are equipped with the same clues as Mira and we can solve the mysteries with her!
Sounds and smells
Working with our senses is something that never gets stale. In the first story, Mira hears a tic-tic-tic sound. What could it be? In the last story, an aroma is the biggest clue. I’ve worked with several activities to do with the senses before, and they make us both more observant and more creative. I’ll play a set of sounds for the children. What could these sounds be? What words can they use to describe these sounds?
Being conscious of smells around them creates a moment’s pause too. Once more, the children have the space to get creative as they describe what’s in the air.
Create Your Own Mayamix!
Mayamix is delicious, but dangerous. If you had to create your own food fantasy, what would it be?
Recently, I came across something utterly delightful called the Edible Exhibition. That’s going to be the starting point of our conversation, and I simply cannot predict where it will take us!
Idioms
Every so often, I like to play with idioms in class. We’re going to be dealing with more complex idioms at my book club for older children too, but we’ll look at a few simple ones at this book club too. Mira the Detective was first published as Something Fishy. The blurb says that Mira will ‘get to the bottom of it’. What do these mean?
We had fun with idioms when we read Amelia Bedelia; it’s time to revisit a few and learn a few more!
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