Strangus Derangus & Other Adventures of Little Shambu is another book that I enjoyed hot off the press. It's a collection of short stories, perfect for my book club because we can read three full stories together in class, leaving the other three for the children to read on their own. Role Play There's nothing like role play to help children understand how dialogue and all its complicated rules work! When we read The Reading Race and Yikes! Bikes!, I realised that although children love role play, many of them take a little time to figure out who's saying what. By the end of it, though, everyone enjoys it tremendously.Strangus Derangus & Other Adventures of Little Shambu is dialogue-rich, making it perfect for an activity of this sort! Exhibition In the story "Strangus Derangus", Little Shambu sets up an exhibition of interesting … [Read more...]
My Favourite Chapter Books from 2023
I read dozens of chapter books each year thanks to my book clubs. Here's a round-up of my favourites from last year. Interestingly, in 2022, there were only three chapter books I really loved. This year, there are ten! Most of these are book club reads, so they're books children have enjoyed reading too! Gobi Goes ViralI love Vibha Batra's sense of humour, and that's why Gobi Goes Viral is one of the first books we'll be reading at the February 2024 edition of my book club! A story about friendship, music, and determination, it's about embracing and understanding difference in the most matter-of-fact way. It is both silly and profound, funny and serious. If you haven't read it yet, pick it up!Book activitiesBook reviewStrangus Derangus and Other Adventures of Little Shambu I'm always skeptical of books that draw on beloved characters from my childhood. For instance, I … [Read more...]
Strangus Derangus and Other Adventures of Little Shambu
Much of my childhood was spent surrounded by Enid Blytons and Roald Dahls, Dick King-Smiths and Allen Frewin Joneses. But Tinkle stayed a favourite. I never got drawn to Chandamama or even Amar Chitra Katha mythology the way I was drawn to Tinkle. My grandfather subscribed to the magazine, and every so often, he would find a sheet of white card paper and bind several issues together to make a nice fat Tinkle volume, which we treasured.The problem with returning to beloved childhood tales, however, is that so often, they're nowhere near as lovely as you remember them to be. Enid Blyton is preachy. The Animal Ark books I loved so much have very little story. I haven't gone back to Suppandi, Shikari Shambu, Tantri the Mantri or Naseeruddin Hodja because I am afraid I will find them silly. That's the reason I postponed reading Little Shambu too. But I just did, and all the stories in … [Read more...]