I read Frindle some time ago and loved it. I considered using it for my online reading programme, but it's so well known that I figured that many children would have read it, or at least heard of it, already. How about something by the same author, but less known? And that's how I stumbled upon About Average by Andrew Clements.Jordan is about average in every way, or so it seems to her. She isn't short or tall. She isn't pretty or ugly. Her grades are average too. Soon, she will graduate from elementary school, but she still hasn't discovered what she is good at. It seems, somehow, that she isn't good at anything! She's average, and that's all there is to that.But then, with her orderliness, her niceness and her simple attention to detail, she discovers during a crisis that maybe, just maybe, she isn't about average. In fact, simply because of her ordinary, … [Read more...]
The School is Alive!
This is the first time I will be reading a spooky book with my book club for ages seven and eight! One of the British Council reading challenge themes was Creepy House, so I've worked extensively with slightly scary stories for all age-groups, but because it was never one of my go-to genres as a child, I took a while to bring myself around to the idea of introducing a scary book to the children I meet.Yet, The School is Alive is the perfect mixture of thrilling and comforting. When Sam Graves becomes the hall monitor at Eerie Elementary, he has no idea that the school is hungry to eat its students! Sam finds an unlikely ally in the caretaker Mr Nekobi, and together with his other friends, he's more than a match for his school!Here's what we'll do with the book at my reading programme. Creepy Alphabet This is an activity I never tire of … [Read more...]
A Very Naughty Dragon
I love Paro Anand's books, and when I learned that she had collaborated with a nine-year-old girl to write a book, I was intrigued. As a teacher and creative writing trainer, I've read many stories that children have written. Some are excellent, others not so much. A Very Naughty Dragon? I had to read it to find out.I did, and I loved it. It starts slowly, with a lot of repetition that I associate with books for much younger children, but as I read on, I enjoyed it more and more. I love the place where it sits in terms of a story - between picture books and chapter books, full of colourful illustrations, but with enough text to make the story more than a book for very young readers.Draco is a Komodo dragon, determined to show his father that he can hunt. Surely he can catch a Timor deer! No, it's too fast.A civet cat? No again.A butterfly? Nope.But Draco doesn't give up. He tries again … [Read more...]
The Butterfly Lion
I love Michael Morpurgo. And The Butterfly Lion? I've had it on my shelf for ever so long, hoping to share it with more readers someday. That day is nearly here!The Butterfly Lion is a classic. In Michael Morpurgo's signature style, he tells a heartfelt, almost mystical story in the simplest and most magical of ways. It's the story of love and kindness, friendship and loyalty.Bertie is heartbroken when his beloved white lion is sent away to the circus. He knows there is no choice, but that does not make it better. He promises the lion that he will find him, somehow, someday. But Bertie's story is a story within a story, told to a runaway boy Michael by an old lady who isn't everything she seems to be. As we learn about the butterfly lion, we explore the joy of memory and the ways in which we remember the ones we love.Like so many other older books, there are so many resources available … [Read more...]
Mira the Detective
Another reading programme, another hOle book! Mira the Detective by Pavithra Sankaran is perfect for my book club in so many ways. We love detective stories, and what better than a book featuring a child detective?When an antique watch is stolen, Mira has very few clues, but they have got to be enough! She must get to the bottom of the mystery.The theft of the antique watch is just the first of three mysteries that Mira the detective solves. What makes the stories even more fun is that we, as readers, are equipped with the same clues as Mira and we can solve the mysteries with her! Sounds and smells Working with our senses is something that never gets stale. In the first story, Mira hears a tic-tic-tic sound. What could it be? In the last story, an aroma is the biggest clue. I've worked with several activities to do with the senses before, and … [Read more...]
Manolita
In many ways, Manolita is a simple, old-fashioned tale. For a generation that's immersed in mythology - from the retelling of Indian myths to all the popular books that have their foundation in Greek mythology - I think a story about a selkie set in the modern world is perfect!Jaya makes friends easily, so it comes as no surprise that she befriends a stranger in Oregon. Of course, her new friend Manolita has to be perfectly human ... right? Even if she doesn't quite understand the phrase 'exchanging numbers', and she likes to eat her fish raw ...?The entire series of books that Karadi Tales has released under the Minmini Reads imprint is remarkable in many ways. Often, books of this length are for younger children, but a chapter book like this for slightly older readers works so well! It's a quick read, wholly satisfying and perfect as a conversation starter. Here's what we'll do … [Read more...]
Four Workshop Anecdotes
So many tiny things happen during workshops! Here's a quick roundup of things that make me smile. Whispering During one of my sessions, a child raised his hand. I quickly summed up what I wanted to say so that I would not lose my chain of thought, and then asked him to speak.'Actually, I want to talk to A,' he said.Amused, I nodded to him to go ahead.What he wanted to say to A was utterly and completely unrelated to what we were doing. And that's what made me realise - at online classes, whispering has to happen with the teacher's permission! I like The protagonist of The Vampire Boy is Kris, a vampire who hates blood. With that in mind, I asked the children to come up with sentences about themselves, telling us two things: one, something they like that their friends also like, and two, something they like but their friends don't. My favourites? My friends like … [Read more...]
Rattu & Poorie’s Adventures in History: 1857
A book about a pair of sisters, where the protagonist is the younger sister ... of course I was intrigued! Additionally, historical fiction has attracted me for a while, and I have come across very little in the genre for seven and eight-year-olds. Rattu & Poorie's Adventures in History: 1857, shortlisted for the Neev Book Award for Emerging Readers 2020, is quite engaging, providing glimpses of three major events that comprised an uprising that all of us study in school - the revolt of 1857.The links between Rattu's life in modern India and historical events are interestingly created. Rattu wishes for a soldier with a sword and encounters Rani Lakshmibai and Jhalkari Bai, who encourage her to play a game of make-believe based on the siege of Jhansi. When bullies steal the sisters' ice-creams, whom should they encounter but Azimullah Khan and Nana Sahib, who teach them how to deal … [Read more...]
Reading, Reading, and Reading Some More
Yesterday, we came to the end of yet another batch of my reading programme for ages nine and ten. I wrote about our 'raise hand' anecdote, and thinking about that made me realise - again - that the main reason I conduct reading programmes is that I enjoy them so much! Yes, I spread the love of reading and all that, but more, I love what goes into each programme. I love choosing my books, planning my activities, and then, seeing how, despite all the planning, children take the workshop in whatever direction they like!This time, we read Karma Meets a Zombie, The Hodgeheg and When the World Went Dark. Each one was delightful in its own way. Karma Meets a Zombie I wrote about being a little nervous reading this one with my book club. Would it be too scary? Detachable hands, the undead - how much is too much?Ultimately, though, it … [Read more...]
Rise of the Earth Dragon (Dragon Masters #1)
I love introducing children to book series. It's heartwarming to see children come back to a subsequent edition of my reading programme bursting with excitement because they're reading the next book of a series to which I introduced them! It's happened with the hOle books, Amelia Bedelia, the A to Z Mysteries, Moin and the Monster ... More often than I can count! And the Dragon Masters is a fun, exciting series too! Rise of the Earth Dragon is the first of the series, the book where Drake discovers that he is a Dragon Master. But-but-but dragons don't exist! They do? But what if he can't connect with his dragon at all? Rise of the Earth Dragon is a lovely story about new experiences, making friends, adventure and magic! Here's what we will do with it at my book club. Diary of a Dragon Master What if you were a Dragon Master? Write about your dragon! What is its name? What … [Read more...]
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