Fantastic Mr Fox is a classic. And the combination of Roald Dahl and Sir Quentin Blake is magic.I've never yet chosen a Roald Dahl for my reading programme because I reckoned that most children would already have been exposed to his books, and a book club is about discovering books you haven't read before. Yet, as I mulled over what to include this time, I asked myself, again, what the purpose of a reading programme is. Often, I use the tagline 'Celebrate the joy of reading'. If it's about the joy of reading, how can I not include books I've adored and devoured as a child?Rereading Fantastic Mr Fox now, I'm astounded at how much I liked it when I was younger. I was never one to like disgusting humour. I didn't like toilet jokes. I didn't like anything that was yucky. What made Dahl different?I think, possibly, it was the fact that the disgust was not the point of the story. Also, when Mr … [Read more...]
Wisha Wozzariter
Wisha Wozzariter. Say it aloud. Wisha Wozzariter was what pushed me to launch this reading programme! Several parents have called to ask if my online creative writing programme is suited to children who want to begin the process of writing. The answer is 'no' because, for the most part, the children who enroll already enjoy writing. They write regularly and don't find written assignments a chore. For children who don't already write, the course could be daunting, and the last thing I want to do is to put children off writing altogether! So I wanted something that would introduce creative writing in smaller, more accessible chunks. And just as I was thinking about it, I came across Wisha Wozzariter. Wisha wants to be a writer. When she reads a book she loves - like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - she thinks, "Now that's a book I could have written." Enter Bookworm, who asks … [Read more...]
Flying with Grandpa
I read Flying with Grandpa some time ago and enjoyed it. I wanted to read it with children, but had not yet figured out how. The book is slightly difficult for ages seven and eight, the age-group I was working with. When parents started asking me about writing programmes for readers who are reluctant writers, the seed of an idea took root. A reading programme with smaller elements of creative writing would be perfect - and there! I had the perfect setup to read Flying with Grandpa! Xerxes wants to be like his grandfather, his beloved Mamavaji, but his mother has other plans for him. She wants him to be like JRD Tata. She is fierce and determined, pushing Xerxes to do things the correct way all the time. But his strict mother is just one of Xerxes's problems. His classmates tease him, calling him 'Xerox, Xerox'. When his Navjote approaches, they make up a rhyme about … [Read more...]
The Mystery of the Secret Hair Oil Formula
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 it. I began mulling over it. Would a writing workshop help? Perhaps it would, but I felt that beginning on familiar ground - reading - would work better. And so, here it is - my first reading programme for this age-group. What better way to begin than with a book by Asha Nehemiah? I began my first reading programme for younger children with her Trouble with Magic, and we loved it. The Mystery of the Secret Hair Oil Formula is similar in so many ways, but still entirely different. Someone is trying to steal Malu Paati's secret hair oil formula. It is a special formula indeed, one that requires … [Read more...]
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