Often, I read books like Twitch with a very clear agenda in mind–to decide whether to read it with my book club. One chapter in, and I was sure I would not. The beginning seemed rather too violent for me to read with a group online, when I cannot necessarily gauge how each child is […]
My Favourite Middle-Grade Books from 2023
It’s only when I began writing this post that I noticed that most (six out of seven) of my favourite middle-grade reads from 2023 have blue covers! How odd! I made a conscious effort to read more middle-grade books this year, also because I want to write more middle grade. It’s an age-group I enjoy […]
The Very Glum Life of Tootoolu Toop
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 […]
An Alien in the Jam Factory
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 […]
When the World Went Dark
I read When the World Went Dark one year after our first lockdown. And I wondered about including it at my book club. Grief is deeply personal. No one feels the way you feel. It almost feels unfair when people do. Even so, we do want to talk about our grief. Additionally, with any book, we […]
An Alien in the Jam Factory
There’s something about book titles that can just grab your attention right away. An Alien in the Jam Factory is one of those. I often pick up books when I travel and when I was in Goa last month, I visited Literati for the first time. I browsed for quite a while before this book […]
The Losers Club
We’ve loved books by Andrew Clements at my book club. Of course, Frindle is a favourite, but About Average was fun too. The Losers Club, which I read about a month ago, came as a recommendation from a parent, and it was quite a lovely choice. A book about books–what’s not to love about it? […]
Unfair
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 […]
Earwig and the Witch
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 […]
Kolam Kanna
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, […]
Kolam Kanna
I’ve read two books by Vibha Batra in less than a month, and I’ve loved them both! So many things about Kolam Kanna were utterly delightful that this review deserves to be in bullet points, highlighting everything I loved about it. The name Bharathi! The moment I learned that Bharathi is a boy’s name in […]
Gobi Goes Viral
Gopi compares everybody around him to a vegetable. His world comprises a capsicum, a carrot, a tomato, a sweet potato … The problem, of course, is that the moment he talks about it, he becomes Gobi, or worse, Fool Gobi. Trying to tell the bullies in class that it isn’t Fool, but Phool doesn’t help. […]
Moin and the Monster
I’m rereading Moin and the Monster with my book club! I read it in June 2021, and all those who read it with me are now too old to be part of Read, Write, Explore, so it’s time to introduce it to a fresh batch of children. At my last creative writing programme, one of the […]
Because of Winn-Dixie
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 […]
A Flamingo in My Garden
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 […]
The Prophecy of Rasphora
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 […]
Journey to Jo’burg
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 […]
Munni Monster
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 […]
Dungeon Tales
We read Dungeon Tales II in September last year and loved it. In fact, it was everyone’s favourite read from the August-September selection, even though it competed with Paati Vs UNCLE and Frindle. So how can we not read Dungeon Tales, or, as the children at my book club call it, ungeon ales? A brilliantly crafted collection of stories, this book takes us […]
A Boy Called Bat
What does it mean to be autistic? What exactly does the word inclusive mean? I think these are conversations we must keep having, and the earlier we have them with children, the more likely it is that they will be sensitive to neurodiversity, and the fact that we can look at things from other points […]