Going back to a school at which I was once a teacher was a whole new experience for me! Despite all the reasons I quit, I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I walked around the school. This time, I was not there an employee, but as an independent trainer from the British Council. Going to the buildings where I taught English and ToK, visiting the library and the refectory, and, most importantly, meeting all the lovely people I worked with ... What a grand day!MIT Gurukul has taken on the Reading Challenge, and I worked with the PYP section today, reading out stories and teaching the children about book reviews. With Grade 1, I did a book I had not read before - There's a Shark in the Bath! It's a delightful story, one of those that is enjoyed differently by each reader. What does young Dulcie do when she sees a shark in her bath? I chuckled as I read … [Read more...]
Flickering Flames – A Review
Flickering Flames is a collection of short stories and poems written by the members of the Writers' Club at St. Mary's School. Here's a little about it.Ishitaa Shevate, one of the students in the next batch of the Writers' Club, reviewed the book: here's what she has to say!This is a very nice book. It draws the reader into each and every poem or story. I couldn't stop turning pages. It is by the girls of my school. My favourite story was 'Room 37'. This book is filled with excitement. I would recommend this book to people who like poetry, mystery and other genres. … [Read more...]
The Great Cheese Robbery
Lots of books on my blog this week: that's what happens when I do a workshop for the British Library's Reading Challenge!The Great Cheese Robbery was a delightful picture book that brought back memories of Disney's "Dumbo". I remember the first time I watched "Dumbo" and saw the elephants shriek at the sight of a mouse. I chuckled at the movie as a child, and the same images came back to me as I read this book!When I started reading The Great Cheese Robbery, I was already prejudiced towards it simply because so many children who had enrolled for the reading challenge enjoyed it so much. When children like a picture book, what other endorsement does it need?Two things about the book charmed me: the illustrations and the delightfully innocent Patrick Elephant. If I'd read this book as a child, Patrick Elephant would have been one of my favourite characters ever. He knows his … [Read more...]
The Paper Dolls
I love Julia Donaldson! I came across her work for the first time when I read and watched The Gruffalo's Child. Then, I read Running on the Cracks - a completely different book for a completely different audience. And now, as part of the Record Breakers Reading Challenge, I read The Paper Dolls, first by myself and then during my workshop with children at MGM Clover Dale. It was just lovely!I'm one of those who prefer picture books that rhyme to those that don't. I find rhyme, when well done, truly delightful and very easy to read. More than anything, I love how children respond to rhyme, like when I make them repeat Ticky-and-Tacky and Jacky-the-Backie and Jim-with-two-noses and Jo-with-a-bow. The Paper Dolls was delightful from start to end, both to read aloud and to act. What makes it even more special is that after the story, there's a page that shows you how to make your own … [Read more...]
The Imagination Box
Isn't the name wonderful?The Imagination Box is the story of a boy called Tim, who has convinced himself that all he needs in life are his pencil and paper (and some confectionery would do no harm). Recently adopted, he knows that all the papers have been signed, but cannot help thinking of his new home as temporary. His easiest defence mechanism is to convince himself that he does not need friends. He is happiest by himself. No one else matters.Until, of course, he meets Professor Eisenstone, inventor of the imagination box. Never one to curb his curiosity, Tim tries on a funny helmet thing connected to a box, not sure what to expect. And the magic begins ... He alone has been able to make Professor Eisenstone's imagination box work. And he can create anything he likes.The book has so much potential and so many truly brilliant bits. I love the finger monkey Phil. I love … [Read more...]
The Boy in the Dress
I started reading The Boy in the Dress long ago and never ended up finishing it. I don't know why. Maybe I was in no mood to deal with all the mucus in the second chapter. Or maybe I was just not in the right mood.I picked up the book again because I watched a "Britain's Got Talent" video and was charmed by the way David Walliams responded to one of the participants - a xylophone player. It made me think that I had to give the writer another shot.And I'm so glad I did! The Boy in the Dress was simply lovely. Though there were parts that made me suspend disbelief rather too much, I enjoyed the story. More than anything, I loved the tone of the book. The story is so lightly written and the characters emerge so sweetly. And of course, Quentin Blake's illustrations - when have they not charmed me? As I was reading it, I didn't get the impression that it was a brave book or that … [Read more...]
Shine
What a puzzling book Shine was! It leaves me all mixed up in terms of what I feel about it.It's a page turner, that's for sure. I began to read and just kept reading without ever stopping. Yet, there were just so many places when I groaned and felt it was too predictable. There were things that were dramatised that were not, I felt, in any way dramatic. There were many places where I felt Nah ... This is just too convenient.But I never write about books that I dislike. In more than one place, despite its predictability and and the tinge of the unrealistic, I found myself moved to tears. I found myself thinking that Shine is such a brave book. How difficult it is to write a story about a girl whose mother is a thief who drinks too much!Tiff loves her mother. You and me, Mum, you and me ... But her mother can be so embarrassing! She pulls off bar codes from things in … [Read more...]
A Monster Calls
Stunning. Absolutely stunning.I picked up A Monster Calls in the same way that I pick up all other books - randomly. No one recommended it to me. I read no reviews. I did not read the blurb. Sometimes it's better that way, simply because you have no idea what to expect.Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls is a truly remarkable book, so remarkable that I cannot write anything about it. It wrung my heart. I sobbed as I held on to the book I had just finished. It was over. I didn't want it to be over.Young Conor has the same terrifying dream, night after night. And then the monster, which is older than time itself, comes walking. The monster tells him three tales that twist and turn, and frustrate Conor. Yet, each tale is important. And each tale brings him closer to the fourth tale that he himself must tell - the one that's no easy story. It's the truth. The truth of his nightmare. … [Read more...]
Books I’ve Been Reading
Lots of travelling always means lots of reading! What better way to spend long train journeys?The Last Unicorn is a classic. If Patrick Rothfuss says it's the best book he has ever read, you know it's worth looking out for.Title The Last UnicornAuthor Peter S. BeagleGenre Classic/Fantasy/Fairy TaleRating (out of 5) 5Age-group 10+Among the most powerful books I have ever read, I now know that Theresa Breslin is an author I want to read more of!Title Prisoner of the InquisitionAuthor Theresa BreslinGenre YA/Historical FictionRating (out of 5) 5Age-group 13+I picked up this one because I was sure that a book called Travelling Backwards written by a person called Toby Forward had to be entertaining, at the very least. I was not disappointed.Title Travelling BackwardsAuthor Toby ForwardGenre Fantasy/MagicRating (out of … [Read more...]
Running on the Cracks
So much to do, so much to read, so much to write! I haven't written my blog for ages because I've been busy writing a brand new series on trains ... But more about that when we're closer to the date it's to be launched.Running on the Cracks made me create a little space in the whirlwind of activity that has made up the last few months. I read and watched The Gruffalo's Child a while ago, and when I saw a book by Julia Donaldson in the library, I had to read it.And I read on and on.Moving beyond the 'political correctness' of the way we ought to address the immigrant Chinese population in Glasgow, Running on the Cracks came alive to me at each step.Leonora Watts-Chan, half-Chinese and half-English, is on the run. Her parents died in a plane crash, and she begins to live with Aunt Sarah and Uncle John. Her cousins tease her about the colour of her skin; in fact, they tease her … [Read more...]