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 them. The Great River Magic touches upon all this!Sangeeta - whom her grandmother insists on calling Gita - is the firstborn child. In the village of Rajpur, this means that she must take over the family business. What if she doesn't want to? That's just one part of the mess that Rajpur is in. Rajpur is famous for its wonderful, top-quality products of all kinds, but of late, people have been complaining about odd smells and inferior production. Sangeeta and her siblings must use their skills to investigate. Together, they find the courage to stand up to the adults and set things … [Read more...]
Petu Pumpkin – Tiffin Thief
We've read Bookasura and Koobandhee; we're all set for yet another book by Arundhati Venkatesh - Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief.Petu Pumpkin. Isn't it a fun name? And doesn't it seem apt that he would be a tiffin thief?The question is: what can his friends do about the fact that Pushkin aka Petu Pumpkin eats everyone's food? They must come up with a plan.And of course, the plan must be secret. And a secret plan requires a secret society. And a secret society must have a name, a leader, a secret meeting place and a password.Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief is a fun book that I'm sure we'll enjoy at my book club. Here's what we'll do with it. Secret Societies Growing up on Secret Seven and Famous Five, I don't know how many clubs my friends and I set up. The one I remember most clearly was a club called Helpful House, whose mission was to save the world. We made … [Read more...]
Dreamers – Lavanya Karthik
I finally read the next two books in Lavanya Karthik's series, Dreamers. I read the first two nearly a year ago! Once more, the visuals are gorgeous. And the stories? Simple and delightful.Janaki wants to be like the birds her father loves so much. They lurk in his eyes and make his eyes shine. But her father tells her she isn't a bird; she's like a tiny mangrove seed. Janaki is most offended - she doesn't want to be a seed! But when she learns what it means to be a seed, we see her lighting up. We experience with her the joy of possibility, and the idea that a seed contains a forest. In fact, a seed is a forest. The Girl Who Was a Forest is such a beautiful tale!The Boys Who Created Malgudi made me smile. Lavanya Karthik's portrayal of R.K. Laxman, especially, is exactly how I would imagine the cartoonist to have been as a boy! From the whimsical cover to the words and illustrations … [Read more...]
Fish in a Tree
Just like with Counting in 7s, I ended up reading Fish in a Tree because of the Neev Literature Festival Reading Challenge. I loved listening to Lynda Mullaly Hunt speak. She left me with so much to think about, both as a writer and as a reader. I'd read nothing she'd written, so I made a note of that and looked out for her books. The first one to come my way was the New York Times bestseller, Fish in a Tree. And I loved it.Ally Nickerson is the proverbial fish in the tree. She can't read, and it's mortifying. So, she pretends that everything she does is a joke. That she deliberately makes mistakes while reading. That she wants to be funny. And each time she does that, she grows more and more vulnerable. Why is reading just so hard?One day, along comes Ally's saviour in the form of Mr. Daniels who sees what Ally is desperately trying to hide. He recognises that Ally is … [Read more...]
Counting by 7s
As part of the Neev Literature Festival's reading challenge, I've been attending as many author interactions as I can. I love them! One session I attended last month was with Holly Goldberg Sloan, who spoke about her book The Elephant in the Room. I haven't read that one, but I have read To Night Owl From Dogfish, one of my favourite books of all time. (During the session, I also asked her about how the experience of co-authoring an epistolary book was. The response was lovely, but that's a story for another time!)I read up a bit about Sloan before attending the session, and of course, I came across the award-winning Counting by 7s. The list of books I want to read is endless, though, so I just tucked this one away for later, well aware that the "later" might never come.But then, less than a week after the interaction, I asked the children at my creative writing programme to … [Read more...]
My Grandmother’s Masterpiece
So often, we think of our grandparents simply as grandparents. We are the centre of the universe after all, aren't we?But Nini discovers that there is more to her grandmother than just being a grandmother. A stray conversation leads her to ask her mother to buy a box of paints for her grandmother, her Minima. And then, a journey of discovery begins - for Nini, her grandmother and the entire family.My Grandmother's Masterpiece is a lovely story that celebrates the relationship between grandparent and grandchild, but it's more than that. It's the story of Nini's Minima who is suddenly free to do everything she wants to do all because her granddaughter got her a box of paints. Here's what we'll do with the book at my reading programme. Pictionary There's one section in th book where Nini asks her Minima if she is drawing bhoots. Minima shakes her head and … [Read more...]
The Chowpatty Cooking Club
Who didn't want to be a freedom fighter while studying about the independence movement? I know I dreamt of being a heroine - just like Sakina in The Chowpatty Cooking Club. I would do something meaningful and brave. I would do whatever it took! But like Sakina, the question was what?Bursting with humour, innocence and a burning, childlike desire to prove yourself, The Chowpatty Cooking Club by Lubaina Bandukwala is a lovely read. It is the tale of three young children who are determined to be heroes. It's tough being a heroine when you have a strict grandfather, but Sakina must triumph. She, Zenobia and Mehul must do everything they can - learn to cycle, make flags, investigate the People's Radio ... But is it enough? Are they doing anything at all?They are, but they don't know it yet.Written almost like a murder mystery, The Chowpatty Cooking Club gives us glimpses of a … [Read more...]
Dungeon Tales II
Munni finds an old book in her Mamaji's shop. What does it say? ungeon ales? What could that possibly be? There's only one way to find out - Munni must learn how to read, and properly. There's a tiny problem - girls are forbidden to read in her village. But can that little detail stop a protagonist like Munni? Stories within a story within a story - Munni reads a book about the Badmash Badshah, who has prisoners in his dungeon come tell him stories. And these stories comprise not ungeon ales, but the Badmash Badshah's Dungeon Tales.I loved the book. Layered with powerful themes and comprising a range of stories from the heroic to the horrific, Dungeon Tales is a glorious celebration of both rebellion and storytelling. I chuckled as I read tale after tale, rejoicing in triumphs, both tiny and tremendous. And the alliterative titles used to address the Badmash Badshah! I smile even … [Read more...]
The Nameless God
Often, when I read a book written for children, I wonder if I would have liked it as a child. I was quite conservative in my reading tastes right through school. I wasn't very willing to experiment, and I was drawn to just a few books. Yet, I think I would have enjoyed The Nameless God simply because it is so relatable. The characters are so much like I was as a child!Do you know anyone who has always been perfectly rational, completely unwilling to believe in superstition? I don't. As a child, I didn't believe in good luck charms or in the idea that seeing a single mynah was bad luck. But even though my brain wanted to be rational, I found myself wondering, Where's the harm in keeping a twig for good luck? Or, A single mynah might not bring me bad luck, but another mynah would make me happy, wouldn't it?And then there was religion. I wanted to believe. With a little idol under … [Read more...]
Ghosts Don’t Eat
Ghosts Don't Eat is the third of Anushka Ravishankar's books that we're reading at my online reading programme, and it promises to be just as much fun! We read Moin and the Monster at my book club for slightly older readers and the first of the Zain and Ana books, At Least a Fish, at an earlier edition of my book club for ages seven and eight.Ghosts Don't Eat is a hilarious book. I love children with good, earnest intentions, never mind what happens next. For instance, Ana wants to investigate the ghost in her neighbour Nikhil's house, so of course she needs Zain to create some sort of distraction. And what's the first idea that comes to mind? Start a fire! Is that the best idea? Um ...I'm waiting to read Ghosts Don't Eat with my book club! Words Ana loves words. Insufferable. Namby-pamby. Alibi.What better introduction to a word game? I'd love to do … [Read more...]