Teacher training programmes often take me all over the country, but this time, author interactions did that for me! My teacher training was restricted to Pune, Goa and Nagpur, which gave me the time to do a lot of other things (including write!).Online workshops continue to have my heart. I love the fact that I can conduct them from anywhere, whether I'm travelling or at home. This academic year, I discontinued my writers' club at St. Mary's School for precisely this reason---in-person sessions don't allow for the flexibility my other work demands. I did create the next issue of THE WRITE PLACE for my young students, but subsequent issues are on hold, at least for the time being.At my book clubs, we read 42 books in 2025. I had enough registrations to go ahead with each batch I planned! I invited six wonderful guests to conduct sessions for my writing programmes, all of which were … [Read more...]
Gobi Goes Viral
Gobi Goes Viral by Vibha Batra is funny, heart-warming, and altogether believable. We've read and loved Kolam Kanna and Pinkoo Shergill at my book club, and I'm happy to introduce yet another book by the same writer to the children I meet. Here's what we'll do as we read this story! Talent Show How can we read a book about a talent show without having a talent show of our own? Over time, I've had children recite poetry, play musical instruments, draw and solve a Rubik's Cube during our book club. It's always lovely to see a side of children that I wouldn't otherwise get to see if we stuck to just reading in class! Similes Gopi (aka Gobi) uses very interesting similes! Starting with an example from the text, we will explore funny similes, coming up with imaginative comparisons for a range of humorous … [Read more...]
The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone
A few months ago, when I read The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone, I knew I would eventually introduce this AKA Mystery to my book clubbers. Some of them have read The Mystery of the Missing Geometry Boxes with me; I look forward to introducing this one to them! Detective Notebook As we read The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone, we'll write detective notes. Whom do we suspect and why? What evidence do we have so far? How can we evaluate the evidence and reach a conclusion? Mystery Game I've played this game in the past, and it's good fun! I will give my book clubbers a set of clues, based on which we will try to figure out who the murderer is! Satisfying Conclusions Does a cliffhanger make for a satisfying conclusion? Why, or why not? The writing exercise we do for The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone will focus … [Read more...]
Help, My Aai Wants to Eat Me!
Yes, Help, My Aai Wants to Eat Me! is as mad and fun as it sounds. I know LOTS of people who express affection by saying they want to eat people up. People like Avi's Aai who thinks Avi is so adorable that she wants to eat him.The problem is that Avi thinks she's for real. And when his Aai is ill, he's sure that he is being fattened up for her, rather like the story of Hansel and Gretel, where the witch fattens children up to eat them ...It's humorously horrifying, but also sweet and charming; we're definitely going to enjoy reading Help, My Aai Wants to Eat Me! at my book club. Pros and Cons Avi looks at the pros and cons of everything, and we're going to use this idea in class. What are the pros and cons of reading in a group? What about of online book clubs? Schools reopening? Notes Each day that his mother is sick, Avi … [Read more...]
Tiger Boy
Sometimes, it takes a while to get to a book, even though you come across it everywhere. Tiger Boy by Mitali Perkins was like that for me. I knew it was set in the Sunderbans, and that it has sold over a lakh copies. I bought a copy, and yet, it sat unread on my shelf for months. I finally read it, and I'm looking forward to introducing it to my book clubbers! It's a story about being true to yourself, making difficult decisions, and persevering even when it feels like the world is against you. Another book that reminded me of Red Eyes, I loved venturing with the protagonist Neel deep into the forest, as he struggles to balance what he wants with what he must do. Imagery As someone who loves visiting jungles, a book set in a forest opens up all kinds of possibilities. As we read Tiger Boy, we will work on bringing all five senses alive … [Read more...]
Mahalaxmi Will Go to Mysore
In some ways, Mahalaxmi Will Go to Mysore is a difficult read when it comes to my book club. A lot of children grow up in bubbles, unaware of what it means to be poor, oblivious to privilege and prejudice. I don't know how effective our conversations will be, but I said it even when I reviewed the book--this book is a conversation starter. It needs to find its way into school libraries and from there into children's hands. Hoping to make a tiny beginning with my book club, although I have no idea where our discussions will lead! Friends Most of our friends come from similar backgrounds because we meet them at school or at one of the many classes we go to. Do you have friends who are different from you? What would you do if your friend could not come on a class trip with you? Holidays Since Mahalaxmi Will Go to Mysore is all about … [Read more...]
Thrills and Chills – A Horror Writing Workshop with Shabnam Minwalla
What a thrilling, chilling session we had with Shabnam Minwalla! It was interactive and fun, full of creepy examples and wonderful ideas. Shabnam began by telling us what inspired her book Saira Zariwala Is Afraid--mysterious messages on her daughter's phone. From there, we explored all kinds of things, from settings, to concepts for horror stories. I loved how many participants shared examples of regular places that become sinister! Playgrounds, people who are a little too sweet, mysterious lights ... Even ordinary places like schools and malls have so much potential for horror! One big takeaway for me was the idea that what we imagine is far more frightening than what is written. As a result, an unreliable narrator who makes us feel uncertain works perfectly for horror! Beginning with a setting that has potential, moving to a "what-if" sentence, and then creating a sense of … [Read more...]
Delightfully True – A Workshop on Writing Creative Nonfiction
What is creative nonfiction? What makes it different from regular nonfiction? Award-winning author Mallika Ravikumar led us through the second guest session of the season, teaching students what makes creative nonfiction engaging. From techniques of writing--like showing instead of telling--to research methodology, Mallika helped students understand how to go about writing credible creative nonfiction. An important aspect of writing about true events is perspective. The same incidents can be viewed from multiple points of view. How do we choose a point of view? And what is our responsibility as writers once we've chosen a viewpoint? At the end of the session, lots of participants who had read Mallika's books had questions for her, which was heartwarming! She left them with an exercise that explores perspective and technique, which I hope will give them firsthand experience of … [Read more...]
The Wall Friends Club
The Wall Friends Club won the Crossword Book Award 2025! I'm so excited to be introducing this book of mine to young readers!In this book, Anandi, a soon-to-be 10-year-old leaves a letter in a gap in the wall for someone else to find. When Sriya finds the letter, they begin to write to each other regularly. Old-fashioned letter-writing will be fun to explore with my book clubbers! Clubs Have you read books about clubs? What do the clubs do? If you set up a club, what would you call it? Who would be part of it? What would you do together? Writing Letters Anandi and Sriya are becoming the best of friends, but they have never met! What would you write to a stranger? Let’s write a letter together! Code-Making and Code-Breaking Sriya is a master code-maker! What about you? Can you solve a cryptogram? Write and decipher … [Read more...]
The Kingdom of Wrenly: Adventures in Flatfrost
Fantasy is almost always guaranteed to appeal to my book clubbers! And that's why we're reading two works of fantasy this time--The Vampire Boy and Adventures in Flatfrost. The latter is part of a well-loved series too, making it all the more exciting for my book clubbers. Just like when we read a couple of books from The Dragon Masters series, I'm sure that at least some of my book clubbers will end up reading several other books in the set! A Pet Dragon If you had a pet dragon, how do you think you would train it? We'll work on creating a dragon character with a human friend. How does the dragon look? Where does it live? Let's draw a picture!I would also love to see if we can invert the idea. What if you were a dragon's pet? How would you need to be trained? World Building Several years ago, when we read Paati Goes Viral, we … [Read more...]
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