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 children can and do find ways to make a difference. As I discovered through the many author events I did with The Best Idea of All, there's so much I can do with the book! And especially as my book club runs online, we can bring in elements that would be rather difficult to do at an in-person session - like making natural colours. Book Discussion What is the climate crisis? And what can we do about it? The cover of The Best Idea of All reveals what festival the story is about - Holi. But in the middle of the worst … [Read more...]
The Talking T-Rex
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 fact, we first see it before it is assembled. The mystery revolves around the T-rex, yes, but it's about who stole money from the T-rex's belly. It isn't about a T-rex going rogue! And the simplicity of the story makes it a perfect book club read. Inventions A talking t-rex is an exciting invention! If you could invent anything at all, what would you create and why? How would it work? Alliteration 'Alliteration' is a word that I introduce to my book club over and over again because it's such fun to play with! The Talking T-Rex. The Canary Caper. … [Read more...]
Just Harriet
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 quite different. The protagonist is younger; she's just finished third grade. More, she behaves a lot younger; she's not the sophisticated child we often see around us. But doesn't that make her more real?The answer, to my mind, was yes. And that's why we're reading Just Harriet at my book club for ages nine at ten next month. Names Harriet is named after the protagonist of Harriet the Spy, but whenever grown-ups make the link, she's quick to say that she's "just Harriet". Names are important to all of us! What does your name mean? Who … [Read more...]
Spellbound
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 promised that it would be be one of those books, a delight to work with. And I wasn't wrong. It is everything I expected it to be - a book that wants to be read and discussed.In Nalini Sorensen's story, all poor Prince Freddy was doing was chasing a beautiful butterfly. That's it. It was sheer bad luck that he ran into the witch Weyona, who took great delight in turning him into a frog. Yes, that's a little bit of The Frog Prince right there; it is a fairytale remix after all. But what will saving Prince Freddy involve? Is he going to get a good … [Read more...]
Susie Will Not Speak
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 her lisp to the world? There's just one solution. Susie will not speak. Ever. What can her best friend Jahan do? NOT Speaking What if you refuse to speak? How else can you communicate? We can use the chat box, charades, artwork, and even make up a sign language of our own. During our very first class, that's exactly what we'll do! Poems Bullies make up mean rhymes about Susie, but those rhymes don't even make sense. Surely, we can do better! We'll try to make up rhymes about ourselves - and they'll make sense too! Tongue Twisters A noise annoys an … [Read more...]
Mini’s Books
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 them, and so, this book is all the more believable. Mini wants to eat the food the Big Little Monsters in the books she reads eat. And through her summer holidays, she slowly learns more and more about these monsters--and discovers all the surprising consequences of reading books! Thanks to her stories, she makes a friend, becomes a detective, learns to entertain herself and even starts to cook! Monster Stories I love monster stories! The wonderful thing about monsters is that they can take any form whatsoever. They can be tiny or huge, friendly or ferocious. … [Read more...]
The Perfect Present
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 a list of everything he wants for Christmas. His list is endless, but predictably, the story leads us towards an understanding of the spirit of Christmas. Book Activities The Ready, Freddy series is full of readymade activities - finding the hidden fin in each picture, a word puzzle, and a craft activity too! Festivals I remember a book club session some time ago when a child told us all about Onam! A book about Christmas will be the prompt for the children to talk about their favourite festivals--which ones they celebrate, … [Read more...]
Sita’s Chitwan
Last year, I invited Vaishali Shroff to conduct a workshop for my writing programme on nonfiction. It was aptly called 'Non-Boring Nonfiction'. I rarely read nonfiction, and I don't think I've ever read nonfiction with my book club. I find it easier to introduce nonfiction elements through books like A Cello on the Wall and A Giant Leap.Once more, that is what I will be doing with Sita's Chitwan. Half the book is a story, the story of eight-year-old Sita, who lives on the outskirts of Chitwan National Park. The other half of the book lets us explore Chitwan National Park, introducing us to its vegetation, people, animals and birds. I'm waiting to read this book with my book clubbers next month! Paw Prints Often, when we visit the jungle, guides tell us that the job of a guide is much like the job of a detective. Following tracks, looking for … [Read more...]
Peanut Has a Plan
We read Peanut Vs the Piano over two years ago at my book club, and it was such fun! I wrote a blog post about one of the activities we did as we read the book, and I look forward to repeating the activity with a fresh batch of book clubbers as we read Peanut Has a Plan. This hOle book is a lovely little chapter book about determination and kindness. With an enterprising character at the centre of the story, what starts off as a desire to earn money becomes much more than that. Peanut, together with her twin brothers Papad and Pickle, comes up with one plan after another to show that she's responsible and can do something worth talking about at Show and Tell in school! Names Peanut, Papad and Pickle - I sure hope their parents named them after things they like! What if your parents named you after their favourite food? What would your name … [Read more...]
Ottoline at Sea
As far as possible, I try to source books from independent bookstores for my book clubs. And so, when Eureka Books informed me that Ottoline Goes to School was out of stock with the publisher, I decided to read Ottoline at Sea with the June edition of my book club instead! It feels like a win-win for me because I'm reading one Ottoline book with my May batch and another with my June batch!Ottoline at Sea is another delightful book featuring the intrepid Ottoline and her friend Mr Munroe. Just like the others in the series, it is a perfect mixture of serious and hilarious because of the seriousness with which it addresses impossibility. I know that humour of this kind is not every child's cup of tea, but the illustrations are sure to delight them all, even those who aren't drawn into the story! Collections Just like when we read Ottoline and the … [Read more...]