When I started reading Queen of Fire, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it. I expected to read something new and captivating, even though I knew that the protagonist was the rani of Jhansi. But all the opening scenes were familiar to me. We've studied the history of the independence movement in India in such excruciating detail that there is no way I can forget about the revolt of 1857, the story of Mangal Pandey, the Doctrine of Lapse, or the tale of the cartridges greased with the fat of cows and pigs.This made Queen of Fire completely different from the other two books in this series. I knew nothing about Didda before reading Queen of Ice, and I had not heard of Queen Prithvimahadevi until I read Queen of Earth. Would Queen of Fire be completely familiar?The answer was no. If anything, I think Queen of Fire is the most powerful of the three books. Once I got sucked into … [Read more...]
Maya Saves the Day
Earlier this month, we read Maya in a Mess at my reading programme, and one child volunteered, "I've read the book that comes before Maya in a Mess.""Did you like it?" I asked.She nodded. "I read it four times."Now, if that isn't endorsement, I don't know what is!I enjoyed Maya Saves the Day thoroughly too! What I loved most about it is that it is told entirely from the point of view of a child who is a bundle of contradictions. On the one hand, she has all kinds of fears. She's scared of crows, whooshing mango trees and dark places. On the other hand, she's completely secure - when she's separated from her parents at a mall, she does not become afraid. Instead, she's angry with her parents for being so careless as to get lost.Maya is a very special combination of humour, solemnity and madness. In the same way as she cries MAYDAY! in Maya in a Mess, we find a confident girl here … [Read more...]
The Very Glum Life of Tootoolu Toop
A fully trained ten-year-old witch chooses to live with regular human beings. The premise itself is delightful. Sure, you want to be a witch or a wizard. You want to do magic. But have you ever thought about the other side of the story? The magical creatures who want to be part of a regular world?Enter Tootoolu Toop, who loves books and regularly sneaks into the cottage of an old lady nearby to “borrow” what she can. She’s forced to do this because ever since the great war, the written word has been banned in the magical world, and witches from Tootoolu's tribe have hidden themselves underground. Is this the life Tootoolu wants for herself? Of course not!Soon, with the help of her grandmother, she takes the big step. She leaves her tribe and goes off in search of a glum* (read non-magical) family that would be willing to adopt her.[*I love that 'glum' is written with a small 'g'. … [Read more...]
Once Upon an Alphabet
Stories are made of words and words are made of the alphabet. What if there was a special story for each letter of the alphabet?That's the premise of this zany, wonderful book, Once Upon an Alphabet, by Oliver Jeffers.My father bought the book for me some three years ago, or so I understand. And he forgot to give it to me. My mother and my sister just assumed that I had seen it and left it there because I'm not a hoarder, because I didn't want to take it right away, because ... because.But the truth is that I didn't know of its existence until last week, when I brought it home and devoured it.What a fun, grand book it is! I gasped at the genius of it, chortled at the fun and rolled my eyes at the silliness. And I loved every page. This kind of writing comes from brilliance that's at an altogether different level.A is for astronaut, for instance. But Edmund, who wants to be … [Read more...]
When the World Went Dark
I was fortunate that I didn't have to deal with death when I was a child. Yet, I was terrified of people dying. My father remembers a day when I stood on the terrace, watching for my mother who was to return from work. My fear - when I was about ten years old - was What if she died?Where do these fears come from? I have no idea.Are we equipped to deal with them? Not really.Books like When the World Went Dark are a step in a direction that I believe can help. Yes, it's a book to give to children who are trying to cope with grief and loss. But equally, it is for children who are not. Only if they are prepared - in whatever way - can they come to terms with what loss is.When the World Went Dark is a timely book, set in the lockdown, a period of gloom for children and adults. Children cannot go out to play; everyone is afraid of setting a toe outside the house. When Swara … [Read more...]
Nimmi’s Dreadtastic Detective Days
Dreadtastic. What could dreadtastic be? A little imagination led me to the right answer - dreadful + fantastic. Aha!I love books that play with words, as well as books that feature characters that enjoy words. I recently read (and wrote about) Friends Behind Walls, and the word games we played when we read it at my reading programme. The first book I read by Shabnam Minwalla is about writing and words too - Lucky Girl. Even as I read it, I planned how I would use it for my reading programme. It produced giggles and fun, poems, new book covers and crazy recipes. I was all set to enjoy Nimmi's Dreadtastic Detective Days!Nimmi has an overactive imagination. When she is sick, overactive turns to hyperactive and she feels that the pineapples on her curtains have murderous intentions. The worst thing about being sick, however, is not malevolent pineapples; it's the fact that she isn't … [Read more...]
Loki Takes Guard
What draws me into a story? What makes me long to know more? What keeps me reading?Character. Always, character. That's probably why I don't typically enjoy detective stories very much. Suspense isn't what drives me as a reader, and all too often, good detectives remain elusive. Their enigma is part of why people are drawn to them - and I'm not.I'm drawn to characters that show themselves at their ugliest, most vulnerable moments, as well as their silliest ones. I'm drawn to characters like Loki.Loki Takes Guard is the story of an 11-year-old who tells you straight off that her name is not as cool and fancy as it seems. It's not Loki, but Lokanayaki. Ugh. Who has a name like that?Just three chapters in, I got sucked into the story. It's beautiful and warm, full of moments of angst, embarrassment, love and humour. I chuckled at the serials the family watches; I loved the … [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...]
Mini’s Money
Sometimes, when I pick up a book for children, I wonder, "What would I have thought of this as a child?" Mini's Money would probably have appealed to me, but what really made me stop and think was the idea of colouring the story. Colouring in a book was a strict no for me, but would this series have changed that?Perhaps it would, for I enjoyed the book!Mini's Money is an early chapter book, perfect for voracious young readers. Many 5- and 6-year-old readers have already moved beyond short, 32-page picture books full of colour. They want more story, but pictures remain comforting. The theme of the book needs to be child-friendly and age-appropriate too, for their experience of the world is limited, even if their reading ability is greater than that of other children their age. In that sense, Mini's Money is ideal.Mini is young and naive, not yet equipped to understand how … [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...]