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Varsha Seshan

When Jiya Met Urmila

March 1, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I read Shabnam Minwalla’s When Jiya Met Urmila at least two years ago. I can’t believe I didn’t review it on my blog! I think I was probably waiting to use it at my book club, which didn’t happen for several reasons. I think we’d read too many books by the same writer–Lucky Girl, The Shy Supergirl and Nimmi’s […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, review, Shabnam Minwalla, When Jiya Met Urmila

Gobi Goes Viral

January 8, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Gobi Goes Viral by Vibha Batra is funny, heart-warming, and altogether believable. We’ve read and loved Kolam Kanna and Pinkoo Shergill at my book club, and I’m happy to introduce yet another book by the same writer to the children I meet. Here’s what we’ll do as we read this story! Talent Show How can we read […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Gobi Goes Viral, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, Vibha Batra

The Very Glum Life of Tootoolu Toop

January 7, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’ve read The Very Glum Life of Tootoolu Toop before and I can’t wait to read it again! I know it’s longer than the books I usually choose, plus every batch of children is different, with mixed reading levels. Once more, I find myself asking, will it be too ambitious to read it in three classes […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, reading workshop, Stuti Agarwal, The Very Glum Life of Tootoolu Toop

The Canary Caper

January 6, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

It’s been 25 years since The Canary Caper was published, and it’s still such a joy to read! We read the first of the A to Z Mysteries, The Absent Author, in April 2021. When I met the some of the same children again in June, several of them were devouring the rest of the series. I’m now […]

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 Canary Caper

An Alien in the Jam Factory

January 5, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

An Alien in the Jam Factory is such a fun read! A book that celebrates ideas is the best kind of book to read with children. The very first page is filled with doodles and ideas–like a jam slice, which is like a cheese slice that you can put straight into a sandwich. What else can […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: An Alien in the Jam Factory, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Chrissie Sains, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

Trunk Call for Ajju

January 4, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Even when I read and reviewed Trunk Call for Ajju in June 2023, I knew it would be one of my book club reads soon enough. A book about children and animals always holds a special place in my heart, and elephants are extra special. Here’s what we’ll do as we read the book. Money-Making Ideas […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Anjana Nagabhushana, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, Trunk Call for Ajju

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

Kittu’s Very Mad Day

September 7, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I remember meeting Harshikaa Udasi, author of Kittu’s Terrible Horrible No Good Very Mad Day at a lit fest several years ago. I had read her book already, but unfortunately, I had a Kindle edition, so I couldn’t go up to her and get my copy signed. I told her that, and then, casually, a […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Harshikaa Udasi, Kittus Very Mad Day, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

Unfair

September 6, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I read Unfair quite some time ago, and what I loved most about it is how pacy it is. One chapter just rolls into the next, making it the perfect read for my book club.  From discussing themes to exploring narrative voices and structure, there’s so much I can do with a book like Unfair! Discrimination What does […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, online reading programme, Rasil Ahuja, reading, Unfair

Earwig and the Witch

September 4, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

When I learned that Earwig and the Witch is a movie too, I debated a long time over whether to read it with my book club or not. Finally, I decided that whether the children I meet have watched the movie or not, we can read and enjoy the book together. In fact, those who’ve watched the […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Diana Wynne Jones, Earwig and the Witch, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

Kolam Kanna

September 2, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

October 2023 sees us reading another brand-new book, hot off the press! I read Kolam Kanna just about a month ago, and I loved it. What’s not to love about a kolam-drawing child with friends who stand up for him? Here’s what we’ll do as we read this book. Kolam Have you read Susheela’s Kolams? If we can, […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Kolam Kanna, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, review, Vibha Batra

Because of Winn-Dixie

July 4, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie has been on my list of books to read for a l-o-n-g time. Yet, I didn’t get around to reading it until I thought of introducing it to my book club. And I’m so glad I did! It’s a gorgeous book. It’s the kind of book that makes your heart ache and […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Because of Winn-Dixie, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Kate DiCamillo, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

A Flamingo in My Garden

July 2, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’ve read Talon the Falcon, The Golden Eagle and The Paradise Flycatcher. How can we not read A Flamingo in My Garden? The entire Feather Tales series is stunningly illustrated in full colour, and that is most certainly part of the charm. Like The Golden Eagle, A Flamingo in My Garden is a story within a story. Mitalee is delighted to […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: A Flamingo in My Garden, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Deepak Dalal, Feather Tales, online reading programme, reading

Read, Write, Race

May 14, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Over two years ago, we read Hungry to Read by Arti Sonthalia at my book club. The children thoroughly enjoyed the story, and the book discussion was completely different from what I expected. I thought we would talk about stereotypes and about how judging reading speed isn’t ideal … but none of that happened. Instead, the […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Arti Sonthalia, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, Read Write Race, reading, review

The Prophecy of Rasphora

May 13, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

It is always a little daunting to introduce a book of my own to my book club. But I’ve done so many events based on The Prophecy of Rasphora, and so many of them have gone so well, that I feel (hope) this will be fun too! Tara, Afreen and Vandana discover a land behind a […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, The Prophecy of Rasphora, varsha seshan

Fortunately, the Milk …

May 12, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Some time ago, we read Help, My Aai Wants to Eat Me! at my book club. As planned, one of the things we did as we read the book was to make a list of pros and cons, like the protagonist Avi. Look at some of what we discussed. Out of all these ideas the last […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Fortunately the Milk, Neil Gaiman, online reading programme, reading, review

Journey to Jo’burg

May 11, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I picked up my copy of Journey to Jo’burg when I visited The Dogears Bookshop a couple of months ago. As I read it, I wondered whether I could introduce it to my book club. It is simply and beautifully written, but it touches upon difficult themes that I don’t know a lot about. I remember reading When […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Beverley Naidoo, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Journey to Joburg, online reading programme, reading

Manya Learns to Roar

May 10, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Manya Learns to Roar by Shruthi Rao is the first book I’m repeating at my book club. We read it at the very first edition of my reading programme, when I tentatively started out in 2020, wondering if I would be able to sustain an online book club for children. All those who read it with […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Manya Learns to Roar, online reading programme, reading, Shruthi Rao

Munni Monster

May 9, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I read Munni Monster a few months ago and loved it. It’s a beautiful book, written with empathy and ending with hope. I knew I had to introduce it to my book club, and I can’t wait to do so. Munni Monster is a book about a difficult subject, but for me, dwelling on only the subject […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Madhurima Vidyarthi, Munni Monster, online reading programme, reading

Chitti’s Travelling Book Box

May 8, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

The most rewarding books to read at my book club are books about books. I remember reading The Reading Race, Book Uncle and Me, Bookasura and Koobandhee; it’s likely that there were others too. Even as I read Chitti’s Travelling Book Box when it came out in February, I knew I would read it with my book club sooner […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Chitti's Travelling Book Box, hOle books, Kavitha Punniyamurthi, online reading programme, reading

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