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© Copyright 2013 - 2025
Varsha Seshan

Mules that Fall from the Sky

September 16, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

How does one write about a book like Mules that Fall from the Sky? As adults, we often feel the need to shelter children from anything disturbing or difficult. I wonder, though, whether it’s because we don’t want to think about these things, rather than for any other reason. Mules that Fall from the Sky […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for tweens, Creative Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Nandini Nayar, reading, review

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

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

What Happened to Grandpa

April 11, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Books spark discussion. As a book club facilitator, I know only too well how a story can lead to conversations about fear, wonder, belonging and so much more. And that is why it’s delightful to see an increasing number of books touch upon themes that help with difficult conversations. Several years ago, I read Where’s […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Aditi Anand, books for ages five and six, books for ages seven and eight, Nandini Nayar, Picture Book, reading, review, What Happened to Grandpa

The Curious Case of the Sweet and Spicy Sweetshop

March 6, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Ghosts, suspense, smart children and the most delicious-sounding foods come together in The Curious Case of the Sweet and Spicy Sweetshop by Nandini Nayar. Vishnudas Mithaiwala owns The Sweet and Spicy Sweetshop, and everything seems to be fine–until two children turn up claiming to be his estranged sister’s child! Whom should Vishnu believe? Whom should we believe? And […]

Filed Under: Books, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Nandini Nayar, online reading programme, reading, The Curious Case of the Sweet and Spicy Sweetshop

The Great River Magic

July 2, 2022 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

The Great River Magic by Nandini Nayar is one of those books with a message, not usually an obvious choice for me to read at my book club. Yet, as I read this book, I was charmed by the premise. I love stories about families, family traditions, and the ways in which people follow or break […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Nandini Nayar, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, review, The Great River Magic

Mini’s Money

February 13, 2021 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Sometimes, when I pick up a book for children, I wonder, “What would I have thought of this as a child?” Mini’s Money would probably have appealed to me, but what really made me stop and think was the idea of colouring the story. Colouring in a book was a strict no for me, but […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Chapter Book, Minis Money, Nandini Nayar, reading, review