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© Copyright 2013 - 2025
Varsha Seshan

Ghosts, Thieves and Aha! Adventures

September 2, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’ll begin with another Silly Billy book next month! I hope there will be many more of these because it is a delightful series for young readers. With its full colour illustrations and its wacky, agenda-free stories, the series is a treat for early middle grade readers. We’ve read Jumble Sale and Agassi and the Great Cycle Race. […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Ghosts Thieves and Aha Adventures, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

The Adventures of Mooli and the Sticker Trickster

July 3, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

The very first book we read at my very first online reading programme was Trouble with Magic by Asha Nehemiah. We’ve read several of her books over time, and this time, we’re rereading The Adventures of Mooli and the Sticker Trickster. This isn’t the first of the Mooli series, but it works well as a standalone book!  Mooli […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, online reading programme, online workshops for children, The Adventures of Mooli and the Sticker Trickster

Ghosts, Thieves and Aha! Adventures

March 12, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I love the idea of a Silly Billy Book! That’s what the series is called, and that’s what drew me to Ghosts, Thieves and Aha! Adventures by Asha Nehemiah in the first place. With its full colour illustrations, the series is a great addition to books that bridge an awkward gap between age-groups and reading […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, books for ages nine and ten, Ghosts Thieves and Aha Adventures, reading, review, Silly Billy Book

The Adventures of Mooli and the Blue-Legged Alien

March 3, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’ve read the other two Mooli books at my book club (although that was before my current book clubbers were old enough to join), and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed them! The Adventures of Mooli and the Blue-Legged Alien is just as much fun, or perhaps even more fun! A lovely combination of wacky adventures and a […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, book club, bookish activities, creative writing with children, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, The Adventures of Mooli and the Blue-Legged Alien

The Mystery of the Silk Umbrella

May 2, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

The Mystery of the Silk Umbrella is the sixth book by Asha Nehemiah that we’ll be reading at my book club! And it promises to be just as much fun as the others. Like any good mystery story, The Mystery of the Silk Umbrella keeps you reading. Who is the mysterious intruder at the beginning of […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, book club, books for ages nine and ten, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, The Mystery of the Silk Umbrella

A Pinch of Magic

January 2, 2024 by Varsha Seshan 2 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: A Pinch of Magic, Asha Nehemiah, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, hOle books, online reading programme

Four Hook Books

March 21, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

At a workshop recently, I showed participants a few hOle books and Hook Books. I had Malhar in the Middle (one of my favourites), The Clockwala’s Clues (because how could I not?), Cyrus the Whyrus (a delightful new Hook Book) and Passepartout, Is That You? (because I love how readers are active participants in the hunt for Passepartout). And not one of […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Aaryama Somayaji, Adithi Rao, Asha Nehemiah, books for ages five and six, Boy Bear, Chetan Sharma, Cyrus the Whyrus, Hook Books, Lavanya Karthik, Priya Kuriyan, reading, review, Wet Paint

The Adventures of Mooli and the Bully on Wheels

September 13, 2022 by Varsha Seshan 2 Comments

Just like the second book we’re reading this time, Yikes! Bikes!, The Adventures of Mooli and the Bully on Wheels features characters some of my book clubbers have read about before. In December 2021, we read the third book in the series, The Adventures of Mooli and the Sticker Trickster. It’s time to meet Mooli again! Mooli and his […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, reading, review, The Adventures of Mooli and the Bully on Wheels

A Pinch of Magic

June 25, 2021 by Varsha Seshan 2 Comments

Asha Nehemiah’s Trouble with Magic was the very first book we read at my very first reading programme. And I loved it. So, when I learned that after all these years, there was a sequel … Writing a sequel to a lovely book is challenging, even more challenging than writing a new book–because there are […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: A Pinch of Magic, Asha Nehemiah, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, hOle books, reading, review

The Mystery of the Secret Hair Oil Formula

March 5, 2021 by Varsha Seshan 2 Comments

The first edition of my online reading programme for ages 9 and 10 is here! For a while, I’ve had queries from parents about children who love reading but don’t know how to get started on their writing journeys. They want to write, but they don’t know what to do or how to go about […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, books for ages nine and ten, online reading programme, reading, reading workshop, review, The Mystery of the Secret Hair Oil Formula

Top Five Chapter Books I Read in 2020

January 1, 2021 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

At the beginning of each year, I make a list of books I read and loved in the previous year, and I always begin with the same disclaimer – these books were not necessarily published in 2020. They came my way in 2020, and so I read them. One thing that I’m doing differently this […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, Crenshaw, Katherine Applegate, Manjula Padmanabhan, Manya Learns to Roar, Shrinking Vanita, Shruthi Rao, Susie Will Not Speak, Trouble with Magic

Trouble with Magic

December 1, 2020 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Book cover Text: Trouble with Magic Asha Nehemiah Image: Illustration of a child and a woman, both with jaws dropped, staring in shock.

The name itself makes my eyes sparkle. Trouble with magic? That sounds promising! And it is. I giggled my way through the book, chuckling at the hapless Aunt Malu and charmed by the enterprising Veena. Aunt Malu should have known better, but … therein lies the tale! Why is this book part of my reading […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, hOle books, online reading programme, reading, reading workshop, review, Trouble with Magic

Online Reading Programme

November 13, 2020 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I’ve been working with the British Library’s reading challenge for a long time. I’ve worked with a range of themes – Circus Stars, Mythical Maze, Record Breakers, The Big Friendly Read, Animal Agents … And I’ve enjoyed each one. I love the range of books the British Library has, and the reading challenge collection is […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: Asha Nehemiah, Dick King-Smith, Manjula Padmanabhan, Manya Learns to Roar, reading, reading programme, reading workshop, Shrinking Vanita, Shruthi Rao, The Sheep-Pig, Trouble with Magic