A brand-new hOle book for a brand-new edition of my book club! Left-Out Paru is a book that struck a chord with me because even though I'm not left-handed, I've thought about lots of things designed for right-handed people. Scissors. Cameras. Desks. Here's what we'll do as we read this book by Bijal Vachharajani and Rajiv Eipe (two left-handed creators) at my book club next month! Being Left-Handed What words and phrases do we know that favour right-handed people? We'll do a vocabulary quiz to find out! Some words come from languages other than English; it'll be fun to explore a range of languages, including our mother tongues! Using Our Non-Dominant Hand A lot of left-handers can do a surprising number of things with their right hands! Let's see how quickly we can write, draw and cut with our non-dominant … [Read more...]
And Yet You Shine
I’ve read two books by Supriya Kelkar, and I’ve enjoyed them both—Strong as Fire, Fierce as Flame more than Ahimsa. In some ways, And Yet You Shine is even more ambitious because it’s a picture book, while also being a work of historical fiction.And Yet You Shine tells the story of the Kohinoor, beginning with its formation of the Kohinoor and subsequent discovery. The story then takes us through the centuries, briefly touching upon all the places the Kohinoor has been. Even through fires and war, the Kohinoor continues to shine, and that is the refrain of the story.As I read this book, I couldn't help wondering about the target audience. With concepts like colonization and resistance, as well as the detailed information at the end of the book, wouldn't it be more suited to older children? Yet, through it all is the metaphor that reminds you to recognise your own worth and … [Read more...]
Left-Out Paru
Why is the word left associated with so many negative things? Gauche in French, sinistra in Italian, and of course, phrases in English like being left out, having two left feet … I could go on and on because there are just so many examples—dextrous, adroit, being right are all corollaries of the same thing.And this brings me to Left-Out Paru, written by Bijal Vachharajani and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe. The protagonist of the story, Paru, is left-handed, and she is bullied for it, most particularly by her bench mate Nina. Other classmates soon join in the bullying, calling Paru names like 'Scrammy Sinistral' (I didn’t know the word sinistral, by the way, and I was happy to learn it!). Paru gets angrier and angrier, until one day, she decides to put the argument to rest with an arm-wrestling match—left-handed Paru vs right-handed Nina.Left-Out Paru addresses so many ideas I … [Read more...]
Friends Behind Walls
Inu and Putti are not allowed to play with each other. But what can they possibly do when everyone else in Shanti Park seems to have been born at the age of 30? They have no one to play with except each other!Soon they discover that they actually like each other and want to be friends, so they need an answer to the Most Important Question: why are their families fighting?They go to one person after another, searching for answers (or answers-shanswers, as Putti's father would say). Mr Om Namaha, Dr Solanki and the Tekdichi Mhatari - who can answer their question?Friends Behind Walls is such a gorgeous book that I simply had to include it in my reading programme! Here's some of what we will do. Word Games Putti loves words and so do I. He breaks words up and comments on how nonsensical they are. Legend = lej+end, but it has nothing to do … [Read more...]
The Bald Bandit
Who doesn't love a good mystery story? I love the A to Z Mysteries because they're exactly the right level for my book club. The characters are fun, the mysteries are engaging, and the fact that we have a whole series of twenty-six books to read makes The Bald Bandit an easy choice for me. Even though the book is over twenty-five years old, it doesn't feel dated. I'm sure we'll have fun with it! Clues Fingerprints, shoe prints, bits of fabric--they're all clues! Let's have some fun with them. We'll draw the outline of our foot and try to make it look like a footprint. We'll play with thumb prints and try to look around us to see what signs we can find of the other people who live at home with us. Mysteries A storytelling worksheet is a great way to explore a rough outline of a story. I will give the children the framework of a … [Read more...]
The Adventures of Mooli and the Sticker Trickster
The very first book we read at my very first online reading programme was Trouble with Magic by Asha Nehemiah. We've read several of her books over time, and this time, we're rereading The Adventures of Mooli and the Sticker Trickster. This isn't the first of the Mooli series, but it works well as a standalone book! Mooli and Soups are busy ideating. They must come up with an idea that will win a prize at WAYOUTS - World's As Yet Original Untried Tricks and Stunts. What can they do that will be simply outstanding? Surely, two intrepid young children can come up with not one, but a hundred ideas!In the middle of all this, however, they have a mystery to solve. Who could be vandalising Mooli's Amma's signboard with silly stickers? Why does her board now read 'Yummy Scrummy mon Keys'?A hilarious adventure ensues as Mooli and Soups get to the bottom of the mystery and find the vandal. … [Read more...]
Vincent Can’t Go
Another book that's hot off the press is coming to my book club! Vincent Can't Go is a charming story about a boy who isn't allowed to go anywhere because his mother is too afraid. I enjoyed this sweet, simple story, and I'm sure my book clubbers will too! Interactive Game What are you allowed to do? What are you not allowed to do? Let's play a game! After that, we will use an interactive whiteboard to explore new ideas of things we would like to do if we were allowed to do them! Friends Friendship is an integral part of Vincent Can't Go. I'd like for the children at my book club to show me a picture of their friend, what they have in common, why they're friends, and anything else they would like to share! Portraits I love Habib Ali's pictures of 'Most Important Friend' and 'Man of Action'! In class, I'll ask the … [Read more...]
Vincent Can’t Go
We all know what it's like not to be allowed to go somewhere we really want to go. Birthday party. Sleepover. Movie. Dinner.In Vincent's case, though, it's been months since he's been allowed anywhere. Ever since his father was sent to America, his mother doesn't allow him to do tiny things he used to do. He can't even go buy blue Lays from the kirana shop.Buying blue Lays may not be such a big deal. But his best friend's birthday party is a big deal. He knows what his mother will say: 'Vincent Can't Go'. Now, however, Vincent must go. Or else will his best friend even be his best friend any longer?Vincent Can't Go by Mariyam Fatima, illustrated by Habib Ali, is a charming story about children making something happen. At the mature age of eight, surely Vincent is old enough to be doing things for himself! Without ever being cute or patronising, the story takes us through … [Read more...]
Everything Changes And That’s Ok
How do you read picture books? Do you pause as you turn each page, just to admire the pictures? Or do you race through the story and then come back to the pictures to take them in slowly?For me, it depends on the book, but with Everything Changes And That's Ok, I found myself trying to do both! A picture book in verse, each page is a visual treat! My favourite page was probably this one, a gorgeous forest scene:For children, change can be frightening, but Everything Changes and That's Ok reminds us that change is all around us. A playful puppy, full of energy, could grow up to be a dog that likes to lounge about all day. A new school is daunting, but perhaps new friendships are just around the corner.Rhyming verse doesn't always work for me, but this book did, for the most part. It's a gentle, beautiful read, inviting us to slow down and look at how the world changes both … [Read more...]
Dum Dum to the Rescue & Yet More Adventures of Little Shambu
Did you read Shikari Shambu? I did, and I loved each silly adventure. That's why we're reading yet another Little Shambu book at my book club. We read Strangus Derangus in April 2024, In the Bear's Den in November 2024, and it's time to read the last one--Dum Dum to the Rescue.I enjoyed all these stories for their silliness and simplicity, as well as the lovely illustrations. An urban child's interactions with animals may be few and far between, but there are a range of hilarious stories in store for us in this collection. Role Play Any book that is rich in dialogue is perfect for role play. Helping children recognise when characters begin to speak and when they stop, beginning to recognise speech marks and paragraphs ... all this is part of a book club! Animal Encounters Have you ever had a fun/frightening experience with an … [Read more...]