Ghosts Don't Eat is the third of Anushka Ravishankar's books that we're reading at my online reading programme, and it promises to be just as much fun! We read Moin and the Monster at my book club for slightly older readers and the first of the Zain and Ana books, At Least a Fish, at an earlier edition of my book club for ages seven and eight.Ghosts Don't Eat is a hilarious book. I love children with good, earnest intentions, never mind what happens next. For instance, Ana wants to investigate the ghost in her neighbour Nikhil's house, so of course she needs Zain to create some sort of distraction. And what's the first idea that comes to mind? Start a fire! Is that the best idea? Um ...I'm waiting to read Ghosts Don't Eat with my book club! Words Ana loves words. Insufferable. Namby-pamby. Alibi.What better introduction to a word game? I'd love to do … [Read more...]
Nimmi’s Dreadtastic Detective Days
It's been a year since I read Nimmi's Dreadtastic Detective Days, and I've been mulling over whether to read it at my reading programme. It's a little longer than the books we usually read, but there's so much we can do with the book that I've been tempted to choose it. Finally, I decided I would just go ahead and see how it goes, since reading levels differ so widely anyway! Here's what we'll do with it. Portmanteau Words Dreadful + Fantastic = DreadtasticHorrible + Despondent = HorrondentGuffawing + Chortling = GuffortlingI love word games at my book club! As we read Nimmi's Dreadtastic Detective Days, we'll play with portmanteau words, both real and made up. Themed Food What if you had to make a whole meal based on a theme? What theme would you choose and what would you make?We'll let our imaginations go wild as we create recipes, names of … [Read more...]
The Reading Race
Books about books are always fun to read at my reading programmes. At an earlier edition, we read a book with a few elements that didn't appeal to me. For instance, I don't like the idea of reading quickly, or a competition based on how many books you can read. I also don't like the idea of particular books being read by girls and other books being read by boys.And The Reading Race heads in the right direction on both counts! At the Read-a-thon in Freddy's school, the student who reads for the most minutes will win free books and an author visit! Plus, the teacher in the story actively challenges the idea of 'boy-books'. And finally, the idea of rewarding reading with reading is a lovely message too! There are parts of the story that are rather silly - especially the relationship between the siblings in the book - but I think the children at my book club will enjoy reading The Reading … [Read more...]
A Big Splash
I read the entire PARI series a few months ago, and I've been mulling over them ever since. I'm not usually a big fan of nonfiction, and I haven't yet worked with it at my online reading programme, but A Big Splash stayed with me.And then, there were stray conversations that made me think of the book over and over again. A child at my writing programme told me how much she liked it. Earlier this month, we worked with Flyaway Boy by Jane de Suza, and during one of our activities, a label many of the children gave themselves was 'sports-lover'. A sportsy book? Sure! I've done just Cricket for the Crocodile before, and it's time to introduce something else!A Big Splash is a quick read, and that makes it the ideal first book for any batch of my reading programme. It's a tale of grit and introduces so many big themes that I can't wait to work with … [Read more...]
Malhar in the Middle
I LOVE Shruthi Rao's books. We read Manya Learns to Roar at my first reading programme, and even before that, I read and loved Susie Will Not Speak. If anything, I liked Malhar in the Middle even more.Malhar loves playing the tabla. But why does tradition demand that he should sit on the side? Why is he is the 'accompanying artiste'? Isn't the tabla player equally important at a concert? A big theme like tradition is handled with the lightest touch possible, and it's beautifully done. I love that Malhar manages to solve his own problem without needless drama or emotional conflict. He knows what he wants, he knows what to do, and he goes about doing it in a way that is as satisfying as it is lovely.Here's what we'll do with the book at my book club. Book Discussion - Tradition What traditions do you like? Are there any traditions that you would like to … [Read more...]
Adventure on Wheels
Adventure on Wheels is such a rollicking read! The book opens with two thieves stealing a van that belongs to an orphanage. The theft itself is simple enough, but when they discover three children hiding in the van, they're up against more than they'd bargained for. At once heart-warming and hilarious, Adventure on Wheels is a fun book that I can't wait to share with my book club! Unlikely Heroes When we think about the main character in a story, what kind of character do we usually have in mind? Subbu and Golu are thieves! Can they be the heroes of the story? Or is there another story that helps us understand why these two are off to rob a toy store?At my book club, to begin an exploration of the idea of a back story, I will ask the children to come up with characters that seem negative, and then work on what makes them the way they … [Read more...]
My Father’s Dragon
I rarely choose to read classics at my book club, and My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett is, without doubt, a classic. I'm waiting for those wide-eyed comments about it having been published in NINETEEN FORTY-EIGHT!But this is one of those classics that I'm convinced will be good fun to read with my book club. It's quirky, imaginative, and full of unexpected twists and turns from the very first page. A talking cat, tigers that love chewing gum, a rhinoceros that wants a white horn ... each chapter is full of marvels! Best of all is that the story is not about rescuing someone from a dragon; it is about rescuing the dragon itself. I love it!Here's what we will do with the book at my reading programme. Wild Island Like all lovely works of fantasy, My Father's Dragon begins with a map. The map of Wild Island says 'my father doesn't know … [Read more...]
About Average
I read Frindle some time ago and loved it. I considered using it for my online reading programme, but it's so well known that I figured that many children would have read it, or at least heard of it, already. How about something by the same author, but less known? And that's how I stumbled upon About Average by Andrew Clements.Jordan is about average in every way, or so it seems to her. She isn't short or tall. She isn't pretty or ugly. Her grades are average too. Soon, she will graduate from elementary school, but she still hasn't discovered what she is good at. It seems, somehow, that she isn't good at anything! She's average, and that's all there is to that.But then, with her orderliness, her niceness and her simple attention to detail, she discovers during a crisis that maybe, just maybe, she isn't about average. In fact, simply because of her ordinary, … [Read more...]
The School is Alive!
This is the first time I will be reading a spooky book with my book club for ages seven and eight! One of the British Council reading challenge themes was Creepy House, so I've worked extensively with slightly scary stories for all age-groups, but because it was never one of my go-to genres as a child, I took a while to bring myself around to the idea of introducing a scary book to the children I meet.Yet, The School is Alive is the perfect mixture of thrilling and comforting. When Sam Graves becomes the hall monitor at Eerie Elementary, he has no idea that the school is hungry to eat its students! Sam finds an unlikely ally in the caretaker Mr Nekobi, and together with his other friends, he's more than a match for his school!Here's what we'll do with the book at my reading programme. Creepy Alphabet This is an activity I never tire of … [Read more...]
Paati Goes Viral
Paati Goes Viral by Prabhu Vishwanathan is such a sweet book! At my reading programme, I like to begin with a short book because it gives us the time to get to know one another and warm up. Also, when the book is short, we have more time for activities!Dhruv's grandparents are excited about travelling, but the best laid plans often go awry. When Thatha dies in his sleep, Paati no longer has the will to keep doing everything that makes her happy. Her family coaxes her into travelling alone, and everything goes well until Paati loses her camera. A camera that belonged to Thatha. It's social media to the rescue as the world comes together to recreate Paati's memories of her solo tour in this heartwarming book about helping one another.Here's what we'll do as we read the book together! Viral What do you think the word means? Do you think it is a … [Read more...]