The name itself makes my eyes sparkle. Trouble with magic? That sounds promising! And it is. I giggled my way through the book, chuckling at the hapless Aunt Malu and charmed by the enterprising Veena. Aunt Malu should have known better, but ... therein lies the tale! Trouble with Magic was the very first book we read at the very first edition of my book club over five years ago! We're rereading it next month! Inventions What would you invent if you could invent anything in the world? Do you think that invention of yours is scientific or magical?Children at my workshops have invented all kinds of things from time machines to superfast shoes and robots that do their homework for them. Aunt Malu is a delightful mix of magician and scientist - neither real nor fantastic - and so, she provides the perfect balance for children who want both … [Read more...]
Top Five Chapter Books I Read in 2020
At the beginning of each year, I make a list of books I read and loved in the previous year, and I always begin with the same disclaimer - these books were not necessarily published in 2020. They came my way in 2020, and so I read them.One thing that I'm doing differently this year, however, is that I'm not listing ten books for each category. Rather, I'm just compiling the books that got a five star rating from me in 2020. It works better for me this way! So, here goes - in the reverse order that I read them. Manya dreams of becoming a famous actor. And of course, it's never to early to prepare your Oscar acceptance speech, is it? So, she practises it, tweaking it here and there, adding a bit, making sure she thanks the right people and slyly brings notoriety to those who pull her down...The first step towards achieving her dream is the school play, an … [Read more...]
Online Reading Programme
I've been working with the British Library's reading challenge for a long time. I've worked with a range of themes - Circus Stars, Mythical Maze, Record Breakers, The Big Friendly Read, Animal Agents ... And I've enjoyed each one. I love the range of books the British Library has, and the reading challenge collection is always special. Being a British Council trainer was always a huge advantage during the reading challenge season because I got secret access to all these books that weren't yet available to regular library customers!However, as I associated with schools and children at the library, there were two questions that continually stood out to me:Don't we get to keep even one book? Why are there no Indian books?And these are questions I've been mulling over for a while, which leads me to announce this online reading programme.What will we do during the online … [Read more...]