Wisha Wozzariter. Say it aloud. Wisha Wozzariter was what pushed me to launch this reading programme!Several parents have called to ask if my online creative writing programme is suited to children who want to begin the process of writing. The answer is 'no' because, for the most part, the children who enroll already enjoy writing. They write regularly and don't find written assignments a chore. For children who don't already write, the course could be daunting, and the last thing I want to do is to put children off writing altogether!So I wanted something that would introduce creative writing in smaller, more accessible chunks. And just as I was thinking about it, I came across Wisha Wozzariter.Wisha wants to be a writer. When she reads a book she loves - like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - she thinks, "Now that's a book I could have written."Enter Bookworm, who asks … [Read more...]
The Absent Author
The Absent Author. The Bald Bandit. The Haunted Hotel. The Zombie Zone. Isn't this the kind of series you could see any child longing to collect?Book series are special and that's why, for each reading programme, I try to introduce at least one. They're sure shot ways of getting children hooked to reading! During my first reading programme, I introduced the hOle books with Trouble with Magic. During the second, it was the Amelia Bedelia series. Now, it's the A to Z Mysteries.Dink invites his favourite author, Wallis Wallace, to Green Lawn, and joy of joys! He receives a note from the author accepting the invitation! Unless he's kidnapped, Wallis Wallace promises to come to the Book Nook and meet Dink and his friends. When he doesn't show up, Dink has a mystery on his hands - the mystery of the absent author!Meticulously, Dink, Josh and Ruth go through Wallis Wallace's itinerary, trying … [Read more...]
Playing with Kangaroo Words
When I wrote about using Friends Behind Walls for my online reading programme, the first thing I thought of doing was playing with words. Putti loves breaking words up to make sense of them. Brouhaha = brew+haha, but has nothing to do with brewing tea or being funny.Yesterday, we thought of words like this. We thought of 'unfortunately' and 'perspective', as we hunted for humorous ideas."Is 'guin' a word?" one child asked me. Of course he wanted to do something with what a penguin is not.One idea led to another and we came to kangaroo words. I'm not good at coming up with these, but I love the idea! A kangaroo word is one that carries a synonym of itself in the word.We discussed just a handful in class - masculine contains the word male, blossom contains the word bloom, chicken contains the word hen. "I know this is difficult," I told the children, "but see if you can think … [Read more...]
Flying with Grandpa
I read Flying with Grandpa some time ago and enjoyed it. I wanted to read it with children, but had not yet figured out how. The book is slightly difficult for ages seven and eight, the age-group I was working with. When parents started asking me about writing programmes for readers who are reluctant writers, the seed of an idea took root. A reading programme with smaller elements of creative writing would be perfect - and there! I had the perfect setup to read Flying with Grandpa!Xerxes wants to be like his grandfather, his beloved Mamavaji, but his mother has other plans for him. She wants him to be like JRD Tata. She is fierce and determined, pushing Xerxes to do things the correct way all the time.But his strict mother is just one of Xerxes's problems. His classmates tease him, calling him 'Xerox, Xerox'. When his Navjote approaches, they make up a rhyme about … [Read more...]
The Mystery of the Secret Hair Oil Formula
The first edition of my online reading programme for ages 9 and 10 is here! For a while, I've had queries from parents about children who love reading but don't know how to get started on their writing journeys. They want to write, but they don't know what to do or how to go about it. I began mulling over it. Would a writing workshop help? Perhaps it would, but I felt that beginning on familiar ground - reading - would work better. And so, here it is - my first reading programme for this age-group.What better way to begin than with a book by Asha Nehemiah? I began my first reading programme for younger children with her Trouble with Magic, and we loved it. The Mystery of the Secret Hair Oil Formula is similar in so many ways, but still entirely different.Someone is trying to steal Malu Paati's secret hair oil formula. It is a special formula indeed, one that requires … [Read more...]
Maya in a Mess
It seems to have become something of a tradition to begin each batch of my online reading programme with a hOle book. For the third edition of my programme, it's going to be Maya in a Mess, a delightful book that made me chuckle. Peopled with sparkling characters, this book is ideal for ages seven and eight, so how could I not include it in my programme?Maya is the cupboard monitor. The proudest moment of her life is when she is entrusted with the key to the class cupboard. The pride! The honour! The triumph!I remember the moment oh-so-clearly, and how could I not feel what Maya feels?Now, you can imagine what the mess is, can't you?Discussion Responsibility is serious business! What was the greatest thing you were entrusted with? What do you do when you make a mistake? How do you think people would react if you lost something precious? Activity What makes a reading programme … [Read more...]
Past the Halfway Mark
Four books in six weeks - that's what my current online reading programme involves. And just like that, four weeks have gone by. If I make participants reflect on their journeys with me, I suppose it is because I enjoy the process of reflection myself. Each time I look back, I find myself nodding slowly at some new learning, some new revelation. Now, at just past the halfway mark, I can't stop thinking about reading tastes and how much they differ. "I'm a cheetah reader," a child said proudly, referring to our second book, Hungry to Read."Me too!""Me too!""I'm a Bull!" said another.Where I thought children would resent being categorized into 'cheetah', … [Read more...]
Workshops Launching in April 2021
REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR ALL THESE PROGRAMMES.The next reading programmes begin in the first week of June, and the next writing programmes will be held in October. I will also organise three short guest sessions as part of my writing programme. These will be free for those who are part of the programme, but will also be open to non-participants on payment of a fee. More details coming soon!If you would like to receive email notifications about my workshops, please fill this form. Alternatively, follow me on social media - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter - for regular updates. Online Reading Programme Many parents with children in the age-group 7-8 expressed interest in my writing programmes, which made me think about what I could do with such young children. For a writing programme to be meaningful, I feel that children need to be a little older. At the same time, … [Read more...]
Online Reading Programme – Looking Back
Magic potions.Superpowers. Word games.Adjectives, homophones, homonyms, mazes.Codes, recitation, performance.What fun my first reading programme was! The first book we read together was Trouble with Magic by Asha Nehemiah. A reading programme involves more than simply reading the book, though, so we used our imaginations. What would we get if we put different ingredients together? A medicine? A magic potion? An explosion?Each of the children came up with something different, and it was such fun! Take a look at just one of them. Our second book was Shrinking Vanita by Manjula Padmanabhan. Apart from word games, where we attempted to unscramble words from the book, we created our own superheroes. What if everyone suddenly shrinks to half their size? … [Read more...]
Amelia Bedelia Means Business
Amelia Bedelia. The name just asks you to read it aloud. And what a character Amelia is! As with the very best fictional characters (I'm thinking of Anne Shirley, Pippi Longstocking and the like), Amelia's personality leaps out of the pages. She makes you chuckle at her sheer optimism, at her zest and her drive. Obstacles? What are those?Amelia sees Suzanne's new bike and knows she has to get one for herself. But her parents are unwilling to give her an advance Christmas-cum-birthday present. What they are willing to do, however, is meet her halfway. If she can find a way to pay half the price, they'll pay the other half. Amelia and her father shake hands, and they have a deal.The problem, though, is Amelia's tendency to take things literally. Idioms are puzzling. Ways of speaking make no sense. So, when she's working at a restaurant and a customer asks her for 'a pie - and step … [Read more...]