We're rereading Manya Learns to Roar by Shruthi Rao at my book club! We read it at the very first edition of my reading programme, when I tentatively started out in 2020, wondering if I would be able to sustain an online book club for children. All those who read it with me then are now too old to be part of the book club, so it's time to reintroduce a book I love!Banyan High School, is going to present a play based on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, and Manya wants the role of Shere Khan. She knows it is the first step towards winning an Oscar, and she's already writing her acceptance speech for that.I loved Manya Learns to Roar because of how true it is to childhood dreams and the way each child is such a charming mixture of supreme confidence and deep vulnerability.Before I even read the book, I was drawn to the idea of a child with a stammer determined to take part in a school … [Read more...]
Top Five Chapter Books I Read in 2020
At the beginning of each year, I make a list of books I read and loved in the previous year, and I always begin with the same disclaimer - these books were not necessarily published in 2020. They came my way in 2020, and so I read them.One thing that I'm doing differently this year, however, is that I'm not listing ten books for each category. Rather, I'm just compiling the books that got a five star rating from me in 2020. It works better for me this way! So, here goes - in the reverse order that I read them. Manya dreams of becoming a famous actor. And of course, it's never to early to prepare your Oscar acceptance speech, is it? So, she practises it, tweaking it here and there, adding a bit, making sure she thanks the right people and slyly brings notoriety to those who pull her down...The first step towards achieving her dream is the school play, an … [Read more...]
Online Reading Programme
I've been working with the British Library's reading challenge for a long time. I've worked with a range of themes - Circus Stars, Mythical Maze, Record Breakers, The Big Friendly Read, Animal Agents ... And I've enjoyed each one. I love the range of books the British Library has, and the reading challenge collection is always special. Being a British Council trainer was always a huge advantage during the reading challenge season because I got secret access to all these books that weren't yet available to regular library customers!However, as I associated with schools and children at the library, there were two questions that continually stood out to me:Don't we get to keep even one book? Why are there no Indian books?And these are questions I've been mulling over for a while, which leads me to announce this online reading programme.What will we do during the online … [Read more...]