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© Copyright 2013 - 2025
Varsha Seshan

The Scent of Roses

January 24, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

From the author of Boy, Bear, a poignant story that has stayed with me, comes The Scent of Roses, a book about fear, grief and loss. This latest hOle book by Adithi Rao is made all the more beautiful by Krishna Bala Shenoi’s brilliant illustrations. When Sajad’s Abu disappears, his Mauji and Badebub try to […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Adithi Rao, books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, hOle book, Krishna Bala Shenoi, reading, review, The Scent of Roses

Top 7 Picture Books and Chapter Books – 2024

January 8, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

It’s time for my yearly roundups! I have no idea how many books I read last year (I never count), but I know I read a significant number. I read fewer picture books than usual, but I made up for that by reading dozens of chapter books. I always share these annual posts of mine […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Books, Dear Sister, I Won't Wash My Hair, Ottoline at Sea, Peanut Has a Plan, picture books, Puppy Trouble, reading, review, What Happened to Grandpa, Where Does It Hurt

Boo-Boo the Eco-Warrior

January 7, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I don’t like horror stories, but what about stories featuring a friendly, helpful ghost? Boo-Boo the Eco-Warrior is one of those! Written almost like a series of short stories, this book by Tanushree Podder is a child-friendly read, made all the more engaging by the use of varied font sizes and, of course, pictures. Boo-Boo the ghost, […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Boo-Boo the Eco-Warrior, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, Tanushree Podder

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom

January 5, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom opens with the oracle at Delphi predicting the fall of the Titans. The future is misty and the oracle’s glasses are foggy, so she can’t quite tell what will happen. What lies ahead? Dancers? Oh, no. Danger. Danger lies ahead. On that humorous note, we begin the story of […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, Joan Holub, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, review, Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom

Mini’s Questions

January 3, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We read Mini’s Books a while ago, and it was fun! As a couple of book clubbers who read it with me have already signed up for the February 2025 edition, I decided to read another book from the series. The familiarity of characters always makes for a fun reading experience! Children have more questions […]

Filed Under: Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages five and six, books for ages seven and eight, Mini's Questions, Nandini Nayar, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles

January 1, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Another edition of my book club, another hOle book! We’ve read nineteen so far, and I’m running out of ones I think my book clubbers will enjoy! I read Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles four years ago. It is fun and light, and we’ll have fun with it, especially as it’s the first book we will […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Arundhati Venkatesh, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles

Kushti Kid

November 28, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I’ve read and enjoyed so many of Vibha Batra’s books that when I saw Kushti Kid, I knew I had to read it. And it’s lovely! Several of Vibha’s books challenge stereotypes, particularly gender stereotypes. There’s Pinkoo Shergill, which features a boy who wants to cook. Kolam Kanna is about a boy who enjoys putting […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Kushti Kid, reading, review, Vibha Batra

In the Bear’s Den

November 7, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Little Shambu is such fun! I read In the Bear’s Den and Other Adventures of Little Shambu some time ago, and at my book club, we read the first book in the Little Shambu series earlier this year. Short stories are fun! I’m looking forward to reading more of this young animal lover’s adventures with my book […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, In the Bear's Den and More Adventures of Little Shambu, online reading programme, reading, Reena I Puri

The Magic Finger

November 5, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I typically shy away from very well-known books at my book club because I feel that children will come across these books through schools and bookshops anyway. But I’ve always loved Roald Dahl’s work, and what is a book club for if not to spark the joy of reading? We’ve read Fantastic Mr Fox and Esio Trot. Next […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, reading, Roald Dahl, The Magic Finger

Bookasura

November 3, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Some books demand to be read at reading programmes. Lucky Girl, with its exploration of poetry. Chitti’s Travelling Book Box with its message of spreading the love for reading. Book Uncle and Me, with the need to save a lending library. And Bookasura, with its book-eating asura. And that’s why we’re rereading this one at my book […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Arundhati Venkatesh, Bookasura, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, reading, reading workshop

The Great Escape

November 1, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Each time Menaka Raman posted about The Great Escape events, she urged participants to bring a spoon.And then, when she autographed my copy, she wrote Spoontacular Varsha.How could I not be intrigued? What’s the big deal about a spoon anyway? You have to read The Great Escape to find out, and that’s why it’s the first book we’ll be reading […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Books, hOle books, Menaka Raman, online reading programme, The Great Escape

Gooney Bird Greene

September 12, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Gooney Bird Greene was the second book I read from Kahaani Box, and it’s a fun story by an author whose work I admire. Lois Lowry has written such a range of books! I’ve read Number the Stars (one of my favourite reads from 2020), The Giver and Gathering Blue that I remember, and I […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, early middle grade, Gooney Bird Greene, Lois Lowry, reading, review

Dear Sister

September 8, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I’ve missed libraries so much ever since the British Library shut down! On a recent visit to Bangalore, I visited Kahaani Box, and I made a decision to join on the spur of the moment. There’s nothing like receiving a parcel of books I’m very unlikely to have read otherwise! Neha from Kahaani Box recommended […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Alison McGhee, books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Dear Sister, Joe Bluhm, reading, review

The Best Idea of All

September 7, 2024 by Varsha Seshan 2 Comments

I’m always nervous about reading my books with my book club! I wonder if and when I’ll get over that. We’ve read Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells, The Prophecy of Rasphora, Dhara’s Revolution and Flipped, and now, we’ll read The Best Idea of All. A story about festivals and the climate crisis, The Best Idea of All explores how […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, The Best Idea of All

The Talking T-Rex

September 5, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’ve read two books from the A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy; we’re all set to read another! Before picking up The Talking T-Rex, I wondered whether it would be a scary book–that’s what the cover leads us to believe. But it’s not! We know from the very beginning that the T-rex is a machine; in […]

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 Talking T-Rex

Just Harriet

September 4, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Harriet isn’t your typical protagonist. She lies, she’s selfish, and she’s often sulky and bad-tempered. Even as I read Just Harriet, I mulled over whether to introduce it to my book club. We’ve read and loved two books by Elana K. Arnold – A Boy Called Bat and Bat and the End of Everything – but this one’s […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Elana K Arnold, Just Harriet, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

Spellbound

September 3, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’re rereading Spellbound by Nalini Sorensen at my book club next month! There are some books that simply must be read at a book club. They’re full of possibility, bursting with ideas and imagination.  When author Nalini Sorensen visited my online creative writing programme a few months ago, Spellbound was hot off the press, and the reviews I read […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, Nalini Sorensen, online reading programme, reading, review, Spellbound

Susie Will Not Speak

September 1, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Susie Will Not Speak by Shruthi Rao was one of the first hOle books I read, and it remains one of my favourites. Jahan and Susie leap out of the pages – sparkling characters that make the story what it is. Susie has a lisp. How can she say even her own name without proclaiming […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, hOle books, online book club, online reading programme, reading, review, Shruthi Rao, Susie Will Not Speak

Mini’s Books

July 7, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Books about books are always a joy to read at my book club! We’re reading In the Woof of Time at my reading programme for ages nine and ten and Mini’s Books at the one for ages seven and eight. Anyone who grew up on Enid Blyton wanted to eat scones, crumpets and treacle. I was one of […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages five and six, books for ages seven and eight, Mini's Books, Nandini Nayar, online book club, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading

The Perfect Present

July 5, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’ve read two books from the Ready, Freddy series at my book club, and I’m happy to read another! While I cannot say I love the books, I see how well they suit a book club. They are easy to read, full of illustrations, and great conversation starters.  The Perfect Present is a Christmas story. Freddy is making […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Abby Klein, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, The Perfect Present

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