Even when I read and reviewed Trunk Call for Ajju in June 2023, I knew it would be one of my book club reads soon enough. A book about children and animals always holds a special place in my heart, and elephants are extra special. Here's what we'll do as we read the book. Money-Making Ideas Children's business ideas are fascinating! If you had to raise money for a cause you believed in, what would you do? How do you think you could make money?Just like Making Millions and Amelia Bedelia Means Business, Trunk Call for Ajju is the perfect book to explore entrepreneurship! Talent Show Ajju and his best friend Karthik take part in a talent competition that they're determined to win. What would you do to win a talent show? In the past, at my book clubs, we've had all kinds of performances - piano, solving Rubik's cubes, the flute, recorder ... It's … [Read more...]
When the World Went Dark
I read When the World Went Dark one year after our first lockdown. And I wondered about including it at my book club. Grief is deeply personal. No one feels the way you feel. It almost feels unfair when people do.Even so, we do want to talk about our grief. Additionally, with any book, we take away what we want to take away from it. The lockdown, online classes and the fear of the virus are so real that I want children to read this, a book about their lived reality, one that acknowledges that not all adventures happen outdoors when we are free to run about and play. Book Discussion For When the World Went Dark, the discussion will lead the way. Children will want to talk about lockdown, loss, online school and more; I am sure of it. When the cook of one of the children at my book club caught covid, the child was so horrified he could not stop … [Read more...]
Sad Animal Facts
Did you know that frogs can close their ears? Or that anything a duckling meets within ten minutes of being born becomes its parent? (That reminds me of The Wild Robot, though the bird in the story is a gosling, not a duckling. Even so.) Those two aren't sad animal facts, though, are they?In fact, many of the sad animal facts in the book aren't exactly sad. It's the endearing way in which Brooke Barker presents them that makes you feel that way. Quirky, informative, and wholly entertaining, I found myself struck by every page, a collection of animal facts presented in a wholly unique style.The cover itself prepares you for the style of the book. The fact presented is simple: Cats can't taste sweet things. But the cartoon and speech bubble are what make it charming, for you have a cartoon cat saying, 'tell me about ice cream again.'Similarly, the back cover informs us that … [Read more...]
An Alien in the Jam Factory
There's something about book titles that can just grab your attention right away. An Alien in the Jam Factory is one of those.I often pick up books when I travel and when I was in Goa last month, I visited Literati for the first time. I browsed for quite a while before this book caught my attention, and I loved the premise.Scooter McLay is a genius. Thanks to his incredible inventions, McLay's jam is a phenomenal success. Whether it's wasp-repellent jam or the not-yet-very-successful Edible Jam Bubbles, each of Scooter's inventions sparkles. He has loving parents, he thoroughly enjoys inventing, and he's never going to let their rival Daffy Dodgy steal his secrets. It's all perfect. Except that he has no friends. No one is allowed into the top-secret factory. And for hygienic reasons, he cannot even have a pet.One day, however, an alien called Fizzbee crashes into the … [Read more...]
What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking
What Feelings Do When No One's Looking is such a gorgeous, whimsical book! Do our feelings live inside us, or do they go on journeys of their own? Or do they do both?Each page of this endearing picture book is beautifully written and beautifully illustrated. As I read about curiosity, joy, gratitude, anxiety, shame and more, I wondered about so many other feelings. And I found nearly each one addressed. Kindness calms storms, doesn't it? What else would it do for you? In me, I hope it reaches out and shares. It knows when to be silent, and when to speak.Seventy-two pages kept me reading, staring at the heart-warming illustrations. Quirky and lovely, believable and outlandish--What Feelings Do When No One's Looking is easily one of the loveliest picture books I've read this year!TitleWhat Feelings Do When No One's LookingAuthorIllustratorTina OziewiczAleksandra … [Read more...]
Heartstopper
I rarely write about books that are so popular, but I loved the Heartstopper series and I can't wait to see what happens next! Unlike most other books I've read, I came to the series through Netflix. I watched both seasons and was so drawn to the characters that I had to read the books. And the books were just as gorgeous. Yes, just as gorgeous, not more so--and again, this differs from my usual opinion on book to screen adaptations!Heartstopper traces the heart-warming relationship between Nick and Charlie, two high school students. Charlie is openly gay, but Nick has always thought of himself as heterosexual. What, then, is he to do with these feelings he's developing for Charlie?An authentic coming-of-age story, Heartstopper addresses heavy themes from sexuality to eating disorders and mental health, without ever seeming like a story with multiple agendas. As author Alice … [Read more...]
Crackers
Some writers stun me with the range of stories they write. Elizabeth Laird, for instance. Look at just the stories I've read by her:And now, Crackers, which is completely different from anything else I've read by her. The strangest part for me as I read it was how similar it is to something I've written--about a group of children making a magazine together!A fun story about two rival groups, I was drawn into the urgent sense of indignation the characters feel as they try to outdo one another. Quite early on, I found myself frowning at the gender stereotypes, so I went back to see when the book was published--1990. While I would hesitate to recommend a modern book that perpetuates stereotypes, I might just read Crackers with my book club, if only to discuss whether these ideas have changed. It's a side-effect of running book clubs right through the year, but I couldn't help … [Read more...]
The Losers Club
We've loved books by Andrew Clements at my book club. Of course, Frindle is a favourite, but About Average was fun too. The Losers Club, which I read about a month ago, came as a recommendation from a parent, and it was quite a lovely choice. A book about books--what's not to love about it?All Alec wants to do is to get lost in his book. When he learns that he needs to be part of a club to be allowed to sit and read after school, he forms one, determined not to attract a crowd. He wants to read. That's it. Nothing more than that. He decides that the best way to ensure that no one wants to join his club is to call it the Losers Club.Things don't go to plan, though, and soon, it seems like everyone wants to be part of his club. As more tables are added and more enthusiastic young children join in, Alec needs to decide whether to be dictatorial and enforce his ideas, or listen to … [Read more...]
Hour of the Bees
The six months of the year when my writing programmes are on are almost impossibly busy. Add book launches, travel and literature fests to a busy season, and I've had barely any time to read! But in the midst of it all, I snatched snippets of time to read the gorgeous Hour of the Bees that I was hard put not to sob over at the airport.Carolina (who prefers to be called Carol) has to spend all summer on a ranch in New Mexico, while her friends have sleepovers and get ready for a new year at school. Through the yawning summer months, she must take care of her little brother Lu and her Grandpa Serge, as her parents make arrangements to move her grandfather out of the ranch and to a home for people with dementia. Carol knows she will hate it and makes her friends promise to text her all the time.But soon, she realises she doesn't quite hate it. There's something magnetic about her … [Read more...]
Mahalaxmi Will Go to Mysore
I've been reading so many books that deal with RTE in one way or another! As a teacher trainer, I find that RTE is a conversation topic that some schools want to sweep under the carpet. Others test waters to find out where I stand. Still others are belligerent and self-righteous, even as they talk about how many challenges they face just because they follow the law. But stories are important. Stories pave the way for conversation.Mahalaxmi Will Go to Mysore is one of those stories--a story that raises questions. The Right to Education requires schools to admit some children free of charge, but what does this imply when it comes to school trips? How can Mahalaxmi's family afford to spend three thousand rupees on a class trip to Mysore?Although I did find a character shift towards the end of the book rather too sudden (I don't want to reveal more), I liked the sensitivity with … [Read more...]