Koobandhee is such a fun book! We've read Bookasura twice; now we're rereading Koobandhee too!Bala is excited about meeting Bookasura again, but when he goes near the well at Navaneeth Uncle's farm, he discovers another monster there, a monster that's even scarier than Bookasura! Worst of all, Koobandhee seems like an asura who is out to destroy all Bala's precious library books, and the librarian Mrs Shashee is not going to be happy ...A hilarious book about books, Koobandhee is perfect for my book club! Insults I've always loved imaginative insults. Of course, Shakespeare is the first to come to mind in this context, but Koobandhee has its share of wonderful ones too. Creepy cockroach! Poisonous predator! Foul flea!We'll do a blind activity on insults, where we make two separate lists - of adjectives and of insects. We'll put them together at … [Read more...]
Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles
Another edition of my book club, another hOle book! We've read nineteen so far, and I'm running out of ones I think my book clubbers will enjoy! I read Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles four years ago. It is fun and light, and we'll have fun with it, especially as it's the first book we will read next month. Book Cover What's happening in the cover image? Before we start reading, we'll talk about the book cover and try to imagine what the boys are doing. We'll take this one step further and write about the emotions the children are likely to feel too. The Gap Club I love the idea of the Gap Club! As a child (and a devourer of books about clubs), I set up multiple clubs with various different agendas. If you could set up a club, what would the club be called? What would your mission statement be? Can you design a logo for the … [Read more...]
The Art of Laughter
Every time I begin a new batch of my writing programme, it feels like the weeks fly by! This edition is nearly at an end, marked by our third and last guest session of the season.This session was conducted by Arundhati Venkatesh, author of a number of humorous books. My book clubbers have read several – Bookasura (which we’re reading again in December 2024), Koobandhee, Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter, Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief and Petu Pumpkin: Cheater Peter. Step by step, Arundhati led us through the writing of a humorous story. To begin with, if you want to write humour, you must enjoy reading funny stuff. This is something I say often---if you don't read, you cannot write. I don't restrict my definition of reading to fiction, though. We consume content in all kinds of ways, including memes and blog posts!Secondly, the core of humour is truth, something that I completely … [Read more...]
Bookasura
Some books demand to be read at reading programmes. Lucky Girl, with its exploration of poetry. Chitti's Travelling Book Box with its message of spreading the love for reading. Book Uncle and Me, with the need to save a lending library.And Bookasura, with its book-eating asura. And that's why we're rereading this one at my book club!Bala loves books. He devours them. Not literally, of course. The problem, however, is his baby sister Meera, who actually likes to eat books. When Bala meets Bookasura, a book-eating demon, he sees a strong resemblance between Meera and the asura. What can he do to defeat Bookasura? What weapon does he have to destroy this book-loving monster?Bookasura is a fun, funny book about a boy fighting a villain who is bigger and stronger. He uses the skills he has - his stories and his wit. Imaginative and thrilling, I know this is the perfect book to read next with … [Read more...]
Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter
We need more books this length! Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter is perfect for my book club for so many reasons! For one, it's a book about agency and creating change, while also being a humorous read featuring familiar characters. For another, since it's just about a hundred pages long, we have enough time to read as well as do activities based on the book. Interviews Petu Pumpkin and his friends gather quite a crowd as they protest outside their school gates. This is a good prompt for us to explore how interviews worked. What questions would we ask an interviewee? Just like when we read Sita's Chitwan, I look forward to interesting interviews of my book clubbers! Campaign What would you campaign for? What makes you angry, and what do you feel is unjust?With Petu Pumpkin, we'll look at a few elements of a campaign from discussing … [Read more...]
Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter
What would you do if your playground was going to be converted into a shopping mall? Would you be okay with your games period being cancelled indefinitely? Petu and his friends certainly aren't going to take it lying down!Petu Pumpkin Freedom Fighter deals with heavy themes in the lightest possible way -- with not just humour, but hilarity. In this book for slightly older readers than the hOle books, Petu and the rest of his Awesome Fivesome have bigger trouble at hand. It's no longer about a tiffin thief or about his friends suspecting that Petu Pumpkin is a cheat. Now, they need to get together and stage a protest because their school playground is slyly being appropriated by people in power. Even though the themes are bigger, Arundhati Venkatesh's trademark humour remains the same!I love to see how themes and ideas overlap across literature. For instance, the children in … [Read more...]
Petu Pumpkin: Cheater Peter
Petu Pumpkin is a cheat! Or at least, so Jatin is convinced. And if Petu Pumpkin continues to cheat and lie, what will become of him? One day, he fakes a stomach ache. He used to be a tiffin thief. Tomorrow, he'll be a pickpocket. And then soon, he'll be a murderer! His friends have a duty. They must get him to confess, no matter what it takes. That's the only way they can save him from a life of crime.Humorous and fun, Petu Pumpkin: Cheater Peter has that element of silliness that I know my book club will enjoy. Here's what we'll do as we read it. Book Cover The episode featured on the cover of Petu Pumpkin: Cheater Peter is probably my favourite part of the book. It's as mad as it looks, and so, I'm going to begin by asking the children what they think is happening there. Is that ... an egg? What are the boys doing?And with all the hypotheses my book … [Read more...]
Ramanujan
What did I like most about Ramanujan?The chapter numbers! Each one is a mathematical problem that uses the chapter number and mathematical operators in such a way that the solution to the problem is, again, the chapter number. That sounds much more complicated than it is, but take a look:Do you see what I mean? Isn't it fun?I love maths. And clever mathematical ideas? I'm always in awe. When I solve a mathematical or logical problem, there's a sense of glee that is unlike anything else, and so, Ramanujan is exactly my kind of book. A cross between a collection of short stories and a full-length novel, the structure appeals to me too, with problems for Ramanujan and his friends to solve chapter after chapter.I also enjoyed how the problems are presented. In the year that the story is set, there's no maths teacher in Ramanujan's school. The substitute teachers make the class … [Read more...]
I Want a Pet
I've never met a child who has never in their life wanted a pet. Have you? But what if ... the pet isn't a cat or a dog or even a rabbit, but a buffalo?I absolutely loved Arundhati Venkatesh's brand-new Hook Book, I Want a Pet. Without any drama or explanation, we are sucked right into the tale. Jasbir wants a pet, he wants a pet, he wants a pet! And on cue, a talking buffalo storms into Jasbir's house, making his wish come true ... sort of.I chuckled and wondered at the hilarious story as I read page after page. Can a child really hide a buffalo in a house? The answer - a child can do anything, especially when it comes to keeping secrets from the adults of the house. And Jasbir is no different. As the his adventures proceed, though, I love how Jasbir discovers that siblings may not be better than pets, but they are certainly useful!Also, like every other Hook Book I've … [Read more...]
Petu Pumpkin – Tiffin Thief
We've read Bookasura and Koobandhee; we're all set for yet another book by Arundhati Venkatesh - Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief.Petu Pumpkin. Isn't it a fun name? And doesn't it seem apt that he would be a tiffin thief?The question is: what can his friends do about the fact that Pushkin aka Petu Pumpkin eats everyone's food? They must come up with a plan.And of course, the plan must be secret. And a secret plan requires a secret society. And a secret society must have a name, a leader, a secret meeting place and a password.Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief is a fun book that I'm sure we'll enjoy at my book club. Here's what we'll do with it. Secret Societies Growing up on Secret Seven and Famous Five, I don't know how many clubs my friends and I set up. The one I remember most clearly was a club called Helpful House, whose mission was to save the world. We made … [Read more...]