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© Copyright 2013 - 2025
Varsha Seshan

Blame It on the Untz

August 21, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I learned one new word when I read Left-Out Paru, and I learned another when I read Blame It on the Untz! Untz. What a delightful word! And just like […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Blame It on the Untz, books for ages nine and ten, Lavanya Karthik, POFFS, reading, review

Willodeen

August 5, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Screechers. Hummingbears. Peacock snails.  I’m always amazed when writers seem to effortlessly bring a fantastical world to life, and Katherine Applegate is a master at it. I came across it […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for tweens, fantasy, Katherine Applegate, Middle Grade, reading, review, Willodeen

The Upside Down River: Hannah’s Story

August 4, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Sometimes, you read a charming story, almost old-fashioned in its telling, and you don’t quite know why you like it so much. My Father’s Dragon was a book like that; […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: adventure, books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, fantasy, Hannah's Journey, Jean-Claude Mourlevat, reading, review, The Upside Down River

If Elephants Could Talk

July 22, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Temple elephants. I’ve always hated the fact that they exist. I remember during a dance tour once, when everyone lined up to be blessed by the elephant. I stayed away. […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for tweens, If Elephants Could Talk, Middle Grade, Ranjeeta Raam, reading, review, Verse Novel

Gossamer

July 19, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

What a gorgeous book! Gossamer by Lois Lowry is delicately woven, pulling at your heart strings as it takes you through a tapestry of dreams, sorrow, love and wonder. Littlest […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, Gossamer, Lois Lowry, Middle Grade, reading, review

Bipathu and a Very Big Dream

July 13, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Bipathu often has the same dream. A dream where she, her Ikka Saad, and Hrithik Roshan are playing football. But dreams don’t come true, do they? Especially not very big […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Anita Nair, Bipathu and a Very Big Dream, books for ages nine and ten, Middle Grade, reading, review

Agalya in the Spotlight

July 6, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I read Agalya in the Spotlight a couple of months ago, and I knew I would introduce it to my book club very soon. It’s a light, easy read, one […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Agalya in the Spotlight, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Divya Anand, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

The Hodgeheg

July 4, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I love Dick King-Smith‘s work. There was a time when I read nothing except his books. I devoured story after story, the way children do when they get hooked on […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Dick King-Smith, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, The Hodgeheg

Jumble Sale

July 2, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Jumble Sale is such a delightful Silly Billy Book that I can’t wait to read it with my book club! Just like Agassi and the Great Cycle Race, which we read recently, […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Jumble Sale, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, Shabnam Minwalla

An Absence of Squirrels

June 9, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

A couple of years ago, I finally read The Giver, a book that students at my writing programme recommended to me time and again when we were studying dystopia, mythopoeia, […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for tweens, reading, review

Agalya in the Spotlight

May 26, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

When I learned that Divya Anand had a new book out, I knew I had to read it. I loved Misfit Madhu. I’ve read it with my book club twice, […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Agalya in the Spotlight, books for ages nine and ten, Divya Anand, early middle grade, reading, review

The Mystery of the Missing Geometry Boxes

May 7, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Who doesn’t love a good mystery? When geometry boxes begin to go missing, the AKA Detective Club finally has a new mystery to solve! But things always go missing in […]

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, Vidya V

Dear Mr. Henshaw

May 5, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I’ve said this dozens of times: I love epistolary novels. I made a video about a few favourites for World Post Day 2021, I love doing letter-writing activities at workshops, […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Beverly Cleary, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Dear Mr Henshaw, epistolary, Middle Grade Book, online reading programme, reading, review

Agassi and the Great Cycle Race

May 2, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Agassi and the Great Cycle Race is a brand-new book that I’m eager to introduce to my book club. I read it not very long ago, and it’s such a rollicking […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Agassi and the Great Cycle Race, book club, books for ages nine and ten, Khyrunnisa A, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, Silly Billy Book

Agassi and the Great Cycle Race

March 19, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Agassi and the Great Cycle Race by Khyrunnisa A. and illustrated by Saumya Oberoi is another fun Silly Billy book! The cover image encapsulates the madness of the book perfectly: […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Agassi and the Great Cycle Race, books for ages nine and ten, Chapter Book, Khyrunnisa A, reading, review, Silly Billy Book

Jumble Sale

March 15, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Shabnam Minwalla’s Jumble Sale is another delightful Silly Billy Book, a lighthearted mystery, which begins with a missing bottlebrush. Who could have stolen it? An evil crow? A ghost? Or […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, Chapter Book, Jumble Sale, reading, review, Shabnam Minwalla, Silly Billy Book

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 […]

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 Hunt for the Nightingale

March 11, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Gone to a better place. Passed away. Moved on. Passed on. We have so many euphemisms to help us talk about death. But what if, sometimes, you need to hear […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, Middle Grade, reading, review, Sarah Ann Juckes, The Hunt for the Nightingale

The Letter with the Golden Stamp

March 8, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

The Letter with the Golden Stamp by Onjali Q. Raúf is such a heartwarming story! As a lover of letters (psst: my first novel in letters, The Wall Friends Club, […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for tweens, Middle Grade, Onjali Q Raúf, reading, review, The Letter with the Golden Stamp

Nimmi’s Bizuper Birthday

March 6, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Some time ago, we read Nimmi’s Dreadtastic Detective Days, and although it is longer than most of the other books I choose for Read, Write, Explore, we enjoyed it. It’s […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, books for ages nine and ten, Nimmi's Bizuper Birthday, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, Shabnam Minwalla

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