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Varsha Seshan

The Great Escape

November 1, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Each time Menaka Raman posted about The Great Escape events, she urged participants to bring a spoon.And then, when she autographed my copy, she wrote Spoontacular Varsha.How could I not be intrigued? What’s the big deal about a spoon anyway? You have to read The Great Escape to find out, and that’s why it’s the first book we’ll be reading […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Books, hOle books, Menaka Raman, online reading programme, The Great Escape

The Best Idea of All

September 7, 2024 by Varsha Seshan 2 Comments

I’m always nervous about reading my books with my book club! I wonder if and when I’ll get over that. We’ve read Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells, The Prophecy of Rasphora, Dhara’s Revolution and Flipped, and now, we’ll read The Best Idea of All. A story about festivals and the climate crisis, The Best Idea of All explores how […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, The Best Idea of All

Dungeon Tales II

September 6, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’re going to reread Dungeon Tales II by Venita Coelho at my book club! And thanks to the Neev Literature Festival, I have an autographed copy! Short stories work well with my book clubs, especially as we read just excerpts in class. Both volumes of Dungeon Tales were wonderfully received by the children, so I’m excited to read […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Dungeon Tales II, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, review, Venita Coelho

The Talking T-Rex

September 5, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’ve read two books from the A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy; we’re all set to read another! Before picking up The Talking T-Rex, I wondered whether it would be a scary book–that’s what the cover leads us to believe. But it’s not! We know from the very beginning that the T-rex is a machine; in […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: A to Z Mysteries, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, Ron Roy, The Talking T-Rex

Just Harriet

September 4, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Harriet isn’t your typical protagonist. She lies, she’s selfish, and she’s often sulky and bad-tempered. Even as I read Just Harriet, I mulled over whether to introduce it to my book club. We’ve read and loved two books by Elana K. Arnold – A Boy Called Bat and Bat and the End of Everything – but this one’s […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Elana K Arnold, Just Harriet, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter

September 2, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Arundhati Venkatesh, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, online reading programme, Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter, reading

Susie Will Not Speak

September 1, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Susie Will Not Speak by Shruthi Rao was one of the first hOle books I read, and it remains one of my favourites. Jahan and Susie leap out of the pages – sparkling characters that make the story what it is. Susie has a lisp. How can she say even her own name without proclaiming […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, hOle books, online book club, online reading programme, reading, review, Shruthi Rao, Susie Will Not Speak

Mini’s Books

July 7, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Books about books are always a joy to read at my book club! We’re reading In the Woof of Time at my reading programme for ages nine and ten and Mini’s Books at the one for ages seven and eight. Anyone who grew up on Enid Blyton wanted to eat scones, crumpets and treacle. I was one of […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages five and six, books for ages seven and eight, Mini's Books, Nandini Nayar, online book club, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

In the Woof of Time

July 6, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

A book club mystery – of course I had to explore the possibility of introducing it to my book club! Samar and his friends find themselves in the middle of a spate of thefts – a dog, milk bottles, and even jewellery. They love reading mystery stories, so this they must investigate the mystery that […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, In the Woof of Time, Monika Bhatkhande, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

The Perfect Present

July 5, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’ve read two books from the Ready, Freddy series at my book club, and I’m happy to read another! While I cannot say I love the books, I see how well they suit a book club. They are easy to read, full of illustrations, and great conversation starters.  The Perfect Present is a Christmas story. Freddy is making […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Abby Klein, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, The Perfect Present

The Worst Witch to the Rescue

July 4, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I used to read The Worst Witch as a child! I had no idea whether I would still enjoy reading about the hapless Mildred Hubble, though. I picked up The Worst Witch to the Rescue without having decided whether to introduce it to my book club–and I loved it all over again! It’s funny, sweet and full […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Jill Murphy, online book club, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, The Worst Witch to the Rescue

Sita’s Chitwan

July 3, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Last year, I invited Vaishali Shroff to conduct a workshop for my writing programme on nonfiction. It was aptly called ‘Non-Boring Nonfiction‘. I rarely read nonfiction, and I don’t think I’ve ever read nonfiction with my book club. I find it easier to introduce nonfiction elements through books like A Cello on the Wall and A Giant Leap. […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online book club, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, Sita's Chitwan, Vaishali Shroff

Flyaway Boy

July 2, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’re going to read Flyaway Boy again at my book club! We’ve read and enjoyed When the World Went Dark by Jane de Suza twice, and I look forward to reading this one with another batch too. It’s perfect to discuss so many things – form, narrative voice, imagination, possibility … The list of ideas below just […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Flyaway Boy, Jane de Suza, online reading programme, reading, review

Peanut Has a Plan

July 1, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We read Peanut Vs the Piano over two years ago at my book club, and it was such fun! I wrote a blog post about one of the activities we did as we read the book, and I look forward to repeating the activity with a fresh batch of book clubbers as we read Peanut Has a […]

Filed Under: Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, Peanut Has a Plan, reading, Yashodhara Lal

Ottoline at Sea

May 11, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

As far as possible, I try to source books from independent bookstores for my book clubs. And so, when Eureka Books informed me that Ottoline Goes to School was out of stock with the publisher, I decided to read Ottoline at Sea with the June edition of my book club instead! It feels like a win-win for me because […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Chris Riddell, online workshops for children, Ottoline at Sea, reading, review

Lucky, It’s Summer!

May 7, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

A story told from the point of view of a Cocker Spaniel–what’s not to love about it? As a book club read, Lucky, It’s Summer! is perfect in so many ways. The lightheartedness of the story, the repetition, the in-built activities–everything about this book by Nalini Sorensen and Shamika Chaves promises to be fun! Besides, for many […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Lucky It's Summer, Nalini Sorensen, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

The Golden Eagle

May 6, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Krishna Bala Shenoi’s artwork is stunning. From the black-headed stork to the green pigeon, the pelican to the doves – the illustrations leap off the pages making The Golden Eagle a visual treat. But of course, I choose books based on the story, not just the pictures, and The Golden Eagle is a pacy, exciting read. The white-headed squirrel […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Deepak Dalal, Feather Tales, online reading programme, reading, review, The Golden Eagle

Ottoline Goes to School

May 5, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We read Ottoline and the Yellow Cat at my book club last year, and it was such fun. I enjoy silliness of this kind so much that the book was on my list of favourite chapter books from 2023. And Ottoline Goes to School, which I read in 2022, was one of my favourites from that year. I’m […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Chris Riddell, online reading programme, online workshops for children, Ottoline Goes to School, reading

No Talking

May 4, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

No Talking is such a fun book! I’m often wary of ‘Boys vs. Girls’ stories because I don’t like books that reinforce stereotypes. No Talking does the opposite; in fact, rather too explicitly so, for me. Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I loved how a contest between the boys and the girls in a class […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: Andrew Clements, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, No Talking, online book club, online workshops for children, reading, review

A Giant Leap

May 3, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I read and reviewed A Giant Leap three years ago. Since then, I’ve been thinking about introducing it to my book club, but it’s shorter than the books I usually select, making me wonder whether it would be too simple a read. Yet, so much draws me to the book, from the childlike perspective to […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: A Giant Leap, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Nakashi Chowdhry, online reading programme, reading, review, Thomas Scotto Barroux

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