At Least a Fish
I love Anushka Ravishankar’s books. Whether it’s Moin and the Monster or Captain Coconut or At Least a Fish, I find myself chuckling as I read, shaking my head at her wacky humour.
Ana, the protagonist of At Least a Fish, wants a dog. She really wants a dog. But her parents go and get her fish instead – not one, but three! Ana’s friend Zain would call them Fishyone, Fishytwo and Fishythree, but Ana being Ana calls them Socrates, Aristotle (Totty for short) and Plato.
That’s just one of the dozens of crazy things in the story. From a dragon in a filthy pool to a dog who thinks he’s a fish, At Least a Fish brims over with humour and madness. I can’t wait to read it at my reading programme!
Differences
At Least a Fish is such a wonderful book to talk about differences – both obvious ones and not-so-obvious ones. There’s one hilarious page in the book where we have a list of differences between a dog and a fish. There’s also a lovely illustration of a fish mutating into a dragon. What happens there?
From a simple ‘spot the differences’ puzzle to a more thought out list of differences, there’s a whole lot we can do with this idea!
Letters
Ana wants a dog so much that she writes to ‘the person who is charge of reading letters at Adopt-a-pet’. She tries to pretend she is an adult in her letter. I wonder if the children at my reading programme will figure out why she isn’t entirely convincing!
I love working with letters and one of the things I will do at my reading programme is to ask the children to write a letter of their own. Let’s see, depending on whom they choose to write to, maybe I will print their letters and post them. That promises to be fun!
Animals
Ana once adopted a frog and made Zain hide it. She now has three fish. But she wants a dog. What pets do you think are fun to have?
We won’t just discuss pets; we’ll play a game too, one that I’ve played before. I begin by asking children to make a list of ten animals. Then, they make a list of ten things various animals do – a lion roars, a hippopotamus yawns, a frog eats bugs.
Finally, one child begins.
I have a pet. It is a ____
And the next child reads the first animal on their list.
Then, the next child reads the first thing on the ‘verb’ list. The instructions take a while to explain, but the results are always hilarious!
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Anushka Ravishankar conducted a fabulous workshop on nonsense verse for us recently. She’s also the author of several books I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, including:
The Mystery of the Graveyard Gold
We’ve read The Mystery of the Missing Geometry Boxes and The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone, the other two books in the AKA Detective Club series. It’s time to read the first of the series, The Mystery of the Graveyard Gold! It is an engaging mystery story that features three children on a backwards treasure hunt, which, in itself, is a fun premise. We start with the treasure and work out where it came from. Here’s what we’ll do as we read!
Mystery Stories
At my book club recently, a child told me that she usually loves mystery stories, but she hates those in which the detective reaches the wrong conclusion. While I devoured Enid Blyton’s mystery stories, this was not a genre that I got drawn to as I grew older. I’d love to know from my book clubbers – what mystery stories have you read and loved? What do you find satisfying about a mystery story?
Setting and Atmosphere
What are some words you would associate with a graveyard? In what way do these words help to create a particular mood? We’ll do a vocabulary exercise, exploring vocabulary that is evocative and expressive. Specifically, we will move away from visual imagery to sounds and smells that help make a setting come alive.
Writing a Mystery Story
Mystery stories are satisfying to read but often difficult to write! During our creative writing class for The Mystery of the Graveyard Gold, we’ll explore a step by step process, trying to write a mystery story of our own.
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How do I curate books for Read, Write, Explore? There are a number of things I try to keep in mind as I select three books. For one, I look at a range of genres. I like books that make you think, as well as those that make you laugh. Join us as we read one lighthearted yet serious story, one hilarious story, and one mystery story this monsoon!
Poseidon and the Sea of Fury
We’ve read Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom twice at my book club; it’s the first of the Heroes in Training series. With older kids reading Heroes of Olympus and other books based on Greek and Roman mythology, I find that the younger ones are excited by the same themes too. This series serves as the perfect introduction! I’m looking forward to reading this story about young Poseidon with my young book clubbers! Here’s what we’ll do as we read.
Mythology
The scope of mythology is limitless! Storytelling is an important part of my book club, and I will ask each child to tell me a myth that they know, focusing on keeping it clear and brief!
What if ...?
An unusual “what-if” question makes for an unusual story! Poseidon and the Sea of Fury features a young Poseidon who is terrified of water, and here, we have a fun, imaginative idea. What if the god of the sea was afraid of water? At my book club, we’ll work together to create a range of imaginative questions, each of which could be the seed of a story.
Vocabulary
Word puzzles are always fun, so let’s do one about monsters from around the world! We’ll do either a word search or a criss-cross puzzle to discover a range of monsters we find in myths around the world!
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Whenever I introduce a series of books to my book club, I love how some of them are sucked into the world of the series and devour book after book! Heroes in Training is one of many chapter book series for early readers. Join us and discover another book that children all over the world love!
Mac B Kid Spy: Mac Undercover
The silliness and drama of Mac B. Kid Spy: Mac Undercover make it a promisingly exciting read at my book club! Stories about spies, subterfuge and suspicion make for great book club reads, and I’m sure this one will be no different. Here’s what we’ll do as we read.
I Spy
Looking closely at the cover is a great way to predict what will happen in the story, and what better way to do it than through a game? We’ll play “I spy” with the details of the cover. I spy something beginning with c! I spy something beginning with s! What details do we then spot?
Observation
At the end of our first class, I will give every child an assignment. Draw the outlines of at least three feet of three different people on sheets of paper. If they can do five feet, even better! If they mix the papers up, can they tell which outline belongs to whom? What details do they need to pay attention to to be able to do so?
Humorous Poetry
Humour is difficult to write, but let’s give it a shot! In class, we’ll try to create a limerick about a spy. What can we do to make it wacky? Limericks are a great way to pay attention to rhyme, rhythm and story, all at the same time!
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I’ve been running Read, Write, Explore, my book club for ages 9 and 10 for over five years now. Batch after batch, we discover new stories, and what’s heartwarming is how many young readers sign up month after month until they outgrow the programme! We’re reading three more books in August and September; join us!
Slam Dunk!
The Silly Billy series, with its full colour illustrations, works well with two of my book clubs—the one for ages 7 and 8, as well as the one for ages 9 and 10. In August 2026, we’ll read Slam Dunk! by Vibha Batra, many of whose books we’ve read and enjoyed! Here’s what we’ll do as we read.
Inclusion
Look at the cover of the book. What do you notice? Do you think all the children on the cover could join your school? Why or why not?
It’s never too early to start conversations about the differences amongst the words “inclusion”, “accommodation” and “charity”. As we discuss inclusion, I would love for the children to draw a picture of how they could make their schools a little more inclusive.
Building a Team
What are the characteristics of a strong team? Since Slam Dunk is about basketball, we’ll first discuss a few basic rules. How many players do we have on each team? How do we score? Then, I’ll ask each child to create a team. They need to create five characters. Each one has a strength and a weakness, but together, the players should make a strong team!
Vocabulary
Each sport comes with its unique vocabulary. We’ll do a word search puzzle and a matching activity, connecting words to the sport they refer to.
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Book clubs are never about just reading. They’re about forming connections, linking ideas, and developing our thinking skills. When all this happens through stories in a fun online space, learning and growing becomes that much more enjoyable. Join us as we read together this monsoon!
We’ve read five of Vibha Batra’s books at my book club, and some of them more than once! You could explore:
On Air with RJ Rini
When I read this simple, heartwarming story a few months ago, I knew I wanted to read it with my book club soon, so here we are! In August 2026, my book club for ages 9 and 10, Read, Write, Explore, will read Sonia Mehta’s On Air with RJ Rini. This is what I hope to do with my book clubbers as we read!
On Air with Varsha
As On Air with RJ Rini is the first book we will be reading in August 2026, we’ll begin with a radio show of sorts (and this will link well with our next activity too)! I will ask each of my book clubbers to hold something that could be their pretend-mic (just like Rini on the book cover!) and I’ll ask each one a question, which they have to respond to quickly and clearly—as if they’re being interviewed on radio!
Radio Show
Let’s host a radio show! What are some things you should keep in mind when you are hosting a radio show? A cheery greeting? Energy and enthusiasm? Clarity and conviction? In pairs, we’ll take it in turns to interview one another, and to add a spark to the session, I will record each interview and play it back to my book clubbers.
Dialogue Writing
Creative writing is an integral part of my book club for ages 9 and 10, and as we read On Air with RJ Rini, we’ll do some dialogue writing. Think about someone you admire. If you met them, what questions would you ask? How do you think they would answer? This exercise is perfect for teaching children to ask the right questions. What kinds of questions spark conversation, and what kinds of questions lead to dead ends? Let’s find out!
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Read, Write, Explore is an online book club for ages 9 and 10. We read one book over the course of four classes, but please note that although we read excerpts in class, a significant amount of reading happens independently! Each class, I let my book clubbers know how much I would like them to read before we meet again. During our online interactions, we read sections from the book, but focus on activities like listening, speaking, critical thinking and creative writing. Join us!
Sandy to the Rescue
Another edition of my book club, and we’re reading another delightful hOle book!
Sandy, aka Sandip when his mother is angry, makes a new friend, Aftab, who needs rescuing from Mrs Gupta, the witch next door. The problem is that he needs to sneak Aftab into his house, feed him and give him a place to stay. And of course, Sandy has got to be braver than Aftab when it comes to an adventure of this sort. After all, Sandy is a whole year older.
We’ve read this hOle book before, and I’m looking forward to reading it again–five years later! Here are some bookish activities we’re going to do.
Making Up Words
‘It’s greeny blue, not bluey green. It’s, um, grue!’
‘You need spectacles,’ Aftab scoffed. ‘It’s not grue, it’s breen!’
What words can you make up by combining two words? What do these new words mean?
Hiding Places
Aftab hides under the table. And in the bath tub with enough pillows to make him comfortable.
Where would you hide? Make a list of your favourite hiding places. Where would your friends (or parents) NEVER find you? Do you have any secret places?
Write a secret note and hide it in a place where only you can find it again! Show us the note at the end of the reading programme! (Don’t worry, you don’t have to read it out to us!)
Similes
Sandy to the Rescue is full of similes. Sandy’s mother’s tummy is like a football. Mrs Gupta is like a witch. Her bhindi tastes like snot. Sandy’s heart races like a sports car.
What funny similes can we come up with at the book club? I can’t wait to find out!
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My book club has been running since December 2020, and I’m always excited to meet new readers. Join us as we read our next set this monsoon!
Don’t Get Inspired; Get Mad!
What a wonderful, empowering session we had with Venita Coelho! In her signature energetic, passionate style, she made us think about what makes us angry and how we can channel that anger.
Inspiration is often quite useless because we have to sit around waiting for it. It’s out of our control, and because it’s totally unreliable.
What works instead? Anger.
It’s powerful, it’s honest, and it shows us the way.
With short exercises and examples of great writers who’ve used their anger to create brilliant, memorable works of literature, we started writing. What I appreciated most was the emphasis on the fact that we don’t all have to write stories. How will we convey what we want to say while also being entertaining? Do we make reels? Rap songs? Cartoons? Comics? They’re all forms of storytelling!
We spoke of Dickens and Orwell, Saadat Hasan Manto and Arundhati Roy. But the main takeaway was this: in addition to getting angry and wanting to get people to listen, we must entertain. We must have a plan–a clever plan to sneak our agenda into our writing without being preachy and moralising.
If you know what you’re mad about, choose your weapon, and go forth and write!
Book Covers – Reimagined
Our second guest session of the season–and my thirty-fifth guest session in all–was such a visual treat! We haven’t ever had a cover design workshop before and I enjoyed this one, particularly as Isha Nagar, who conducted the session, designed two of my book covers (Fishbowl and Uncontrollable), both of which I love!
Through the course of an hour, Isha guided us through the process of redesigning covers for our favourite books. We began by writing down the main characters and theme of the story. Then, Isha explained the three essential elements of a book cover – title, the main illustration, and author name. She showed us multiple examples, demonstrating various design approaches from her own work as well as famous titles by other illustrators. She spoke about Fishbowl, The Ghost of Malabar, Banian Buddies, and several more. It was wonderful to see the range of covers she shared with us, from classics like The Tiger Who Came to Tea to funky covers like that of Loki.
She then took us through the process of design, beginning with thumbnail sketches, moving on to colour, and then lettering. She answered questions about how we can incorporate themes, characters, and visual elements effectively.
Right through, what I loved was that Isha focused on the creative process rather than strict rules. What a fun session it was!
The Adventures of Mooli and the Bully on Wheels
We’re rereading The Adventures of Mooli and the Bully on Wheels at my book club! The book features characters some of my book clubbers have read about before. We’ve read both The Adventures of Mooli and the Sticker Trickster and The Adventures of Mooli and the Blue-Legged Alien. It’s time to meet Mooli again!
Mooli and his friend Soups are fun, enterprising characters, itching to try something new. After all, they want to win a prize on WAYOUTS – World’s As Yet Original Untried Tricks and Stunts. Toothpaste art sounds like a good idea–or not.
Funny, silly and full of wacky ideas, Mooli is a character with whom book clubs are fun!
Art Explorations
Mooli tries to create art using a tube of toothpaste. We’re not going to waste toothpaste, but we are going to have fun with art! Can the children draw with their eyes closed? Or with their non-dominant hand? Or without lifting their pencil from the paper? Let’s find out!
WAYOUTS
We discussed this during my December book club, and we’re going to discuss it again. What unusual and untried ideas can my book clubbers come up with for a fictitious WAYOUTS entry? What can they do that has never been done before?
Dear Team Wayouts
This time, we’ll take our WAYOUTS ideas one step further, working with a little writing too. I’d like the children to imagine that they’ve created something they would like to send for the WAYOUTS competition. We’ll work on a cover letter that they could write to accompany their entry. Letter-writing is always enjoyable!
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The June 2026 edition is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Tara and the Friendship Theorem
Maths and Logic are fascinating. I remember when I studied Descartes, who tried to prove the existence of God using pure logic. I understand the drive to do that – just like I understand Tara’s need to use a theorem to find friends. Can a foolproof Friendship Theorem exist? Can we actually use a Venn diagram to find friends?
Tara and the Friendship Theorem is a lovely book about big changes and making friends. Like with Ramanujan, I enjoyed the facts at the head of each chapter; they help me get into Tara’s very particular character. Just like Tara (and the author Chitra Soundar), I, too, played pallanguzhi as a child too, though my rules were a little different from the ones at the beginning of the book. But I played all things mathematics – Cheese Buzz, Magic Squares, even mental maths games.
Unlike Tara, however, I never attempted to use Maths to find friends. And more importantly, I loved the great outdoors as much as I loved Maths. But what can Tara do at a camp where no electronics are allowed at all?
Cheese Buzz
When we’re reading about a protagonist like Tara, how can we not play a maths game? Cheese Buzz and Magical Mathematical Squares promise to be fun. We’ll play one for sure, and the other if we have the time.
Skills
Part of the process of making friends is finding out what the others are good at. Kapil loves extreme sports. Millie loves to juggle, and is good at it too. What can my book clubbers do that they’re proud of? Solve a Rubik’s cube? Say the alphabet backwards? Fold their tongues? Let’s find out!
Change
Tara has to leave her best friend behind in Chennai and move to the UK for two years. Change is never easy, but it happens all around us. As creative writing is an integral part of Read, Write, Explore, we’ll look at changes around us and write a poem in free verse about change.
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Registrations are now closed for the June 2026 edition. New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Ada Lace, On the Case
Most of my book clubbers love mystery stories, and that’s why the A to Z Mysteries are a great favourite. It’s time to introduce another series–Ada Lace, On the Case! Like Maya from Maya and the Robot, Ada Lace is a scientist and inventor. How does she solve the mystery of a dog that has suddenly gone missing?
As we find out, here’s what we’ll do!
Picture Description
Let’s begin by looking at the cover of Ada Lace, On the Case. What do we learn about the protagonist just from the picture?What, in your opinion, is Ada most interested in?
Field Journal
The cover of Ada Lace, On the Case has the protagonist holding a field guide. What is a field guide, and what is a field journal? I will ask my book clubbers to keep a field journal for ten days, as we read this book. During the last class, each of them will share what they jotted down!
Gadgets
Ada Lace has all kinds of gadgets that she uses during her investigation. What kinds of gadgets would you like to have? What would you use them for?
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Book clubs are a space to share ideas and develop skills like critical thinking and communication. Over the last six years, I’ve seen marked differences in the ways in which children express themselves before and after reading together. Plus, the sooner they begin to develop a love for books, the likelier they are to become lifelong readers!
The June 2026 edition is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Maya and the Robot
Maya and the Robot by Eve L. Ewing is a heart-warming story about a girl and a robot. It is the story of being lonely, finding community. and discovering what it is to be human. Particularly in an age when AI has found its way into so much of our lives, it’s a relevant read while also being a timeless one. Here’s what we’ll do as we read it at my book club.
Book Discussion
What, according to you, makes a human different from a robot? At my book club, we’ll have a mini-debate on the topic: A robot would make an excellent friend.
I’m curious about what my book clubbers will come up with!
Vocabulary Games
Maya and the Robot is one of those books for which I found tons of resources online–though mostly related to vocabulary. Let’s do criss-cross puzzles, word games, and more!
Science Fiction
For the creative writing element of this book, we’ll write a little science fiction. A robot as a friend–what could go wrong?
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I love reading with children! When we read together, we share more than just stories.
Registrations are now closed for the June 2026 edition. New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Song of the Asunam
Song of the Asunam is a stunning book. Just like when we read Chris Riddell’s Ottoline series, we’re going to spend a lot of time looking at the pictures of this gorgeous graphic novel as we read it together at my book club! Here’s what else we’ll do as we read.
Fantastical Creatures
Can you create a fantastical creature? And no, I don’t mean a unicorn with wings or a three-headed dog. Can you come up with something unlike anything you’ve ever read about or seen? At my book club, we’ll describe and draw creatures that would belong to the world of the Asunam!
Monster
I love playing monster games because they give so much scope to the imagination! Together, we’ll create a monster and like Vetri in the story, we’ll figure out whether the monster is truly wicked or just sad and misunderstood.
Heroes and Villains
What characteristics must a hero have? How does a hero look? At my book club, we’ll do a brief exercise on creating a character with either a unique skill or a superpower. What problem would they face, and how would they overcome the problem?
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Too many children (and parents!) feel that reading a graphic novel isn’t “real” reading, but I disagree! Every page of Song of the Asunam is a treat, and I can’t wait to read it with my book club.
The June 2026 edition is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Rocket Champs
Rocket Champs by Niyatee Sharma is perfect for young readers who enjoy stories about STEM. It follows the timeless enemies-to-friends trope in a fun, believable way. I look forward to introducing this quick read to my book clubbers! Here’s what we’ll do as we read.
Things Going Wrong
Arjun feels like everything’s going wrong. His mother has banned experiments at home. Worse, he has to team up with the most annoying girl in school for a science project!
At my book club, we’ll use this as the prompt for a couple of exercises. One – how many synonyms do you know for the word “annoying”? And two, what does the most annoying day in the world look like to you? Write a journal entry!
Experiments
While I would have loved to make a rocket with my book clubbers, it’s challenging to do it online! I can’t monitor their experiments well, and I don’t want to imagine the kind of havoc it could create! Instead, we’ll try to do a couple of simple things. We’ll make a paper boat, and I’ll ask the children to see how it floats. I’d love also to see if my book clubbers can demonstrate something easy and safe!
Enemies to Friends
What is a trope? How can we use one when we write?
As creative writing is an integral part of Read, Write, Explore, we will spend one class exploring the enemies-to-friends trope and writing a story of our own following it!
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Read, Write, Explore is an ongoing reading programme that combines the joy of a book club with an introduction to creative writing.
Registrations are now closed for the June 2026 edition. New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
The Pink Dress
The Pink Dress is such a delightful book! Just like so many other books I’ve read by Shabnam Minwalla, it is hilarious and fun, while also addressing bigger themes, including class divides and education.
Here’s what we’ll do as we read this book at my book club next month!
Presents
As The Pink Dress is the first book we will be reading next month, it will be a good time to get to know one another. Let’s talk about presents! What is the best gift you have ever received? Who gave it to you? And is there something that you want that your parents refuse to get for you?
Word Games
There are lots of words in the book that my book clubbers may not know. So, I’ll ask them to look through the book and play a little game. Find three words you don’t know and ask someone else to spell them. A little competition always creates a fun way to pay attention to words and how they’re written.
Role Play
Kanmani wants to call Diva … but she ends up calling someone else altogether! I will rewrite a small section of the story as a play and we’ll act it out together, noticing how hilarious the situation becomes when we think we’re talking to someone but we’re actually talking to someone else!
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We’ve read several of Shabnam Minwalla’s books at my book clubs! Take a look:
- Jumble Sale
- When Jiya Met Urmila
- The Shy Supergirl
- Lucky Girl
- Nimmi’s Dreadtastic Detective Days
- Nimmi’s Bizuper Birthday
The June 2026 edition is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
The Poetry Playground with Yashasvi Vachhani
Rhymes are fun, and we explored them to the fullest at Yashasvi Vachhani’s workshop, The Poetry Playground.
From shedding our serious skins and getting silly to creating word clouds and writing poetry, we did so much that the chat was buzzing with activity last evening. We worked with simple, silly rhymes, but noticed how something happens even in the simplest and silliest of poems. Sometimes, logic drives the poem; at other times, it’s sounds and shapes.
In the course of one hour, we read poetry by Sampurna Chattarji, Laura Elizabeth Richards, Sukumar Ray and Alok Bhalla, and more! We made up words, wrote rhymes, and all in all, had loads of fun.
A workshop with a guest is a wonderful way to keep the energy high at my writing programme, and a workshop on poetry while we’re doing our poetry module is just perfect. The next guest session is a little over a month away. Watch this space for more details, coming very soon!
Nami and Jhalak: Stinkypur Guardians
The last book we will be reading at the next edition of my book club is Nami and Jhalak: Stinkypur Guardians! It’s just a few months old, and I can’t wait to share it with my book clubbers. Here’s what we’ll do as we read.
Bird Quiz
Nami and Jhalak get inspired to act when they find a lapwing stuck to a bucket of paint in the canal. Do you know what a lapwing is? What regular birds can you identify? Let’s find out!
Write a Poem!
When we provide children with the right scaffolding, they write much better! Together, we’ll work on a poem inspired by nature.
Picture Postcards
Nami and Jhalak send picture postcards to convince the authorities to save Town Park. I’ll introduce my book clubbers to picture postcards and then we’ll make our own!
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I’m always nervous about reading my own books with my book clubbers, but over time, we’ve read quite a few! Take a look at what we did as we read:
- The Clockwala’s Clues
- The Prophecy of Rasphora
- Dhara’s Revolution
- Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells
- The Best Idea of All
- The Wall Friends Club
The April 2026 edition is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Banian Buddies
Banian Buddies has all the ingredients of a story my book clubbers will love–humour, quirky characters, and a big mission. It also provides the perfect opportunity for all kinds of discussions. Do we think of the environment as more important than people? How much do we trust celebrities who champion products and ideas? Waiting to see what my book clubbers think!
Making an Ad
I love working with ads because every child has come across them in some form or the other! The children in the story see Sa Ni Dha Pa Sundari’s face plastered all over the city, urging viewers to conserve nature. When I give them my book clubbers a product to advertise, what will their catchphrase be? What kind of character would be the face of their ad?
Trees
Several books have allowed us to explore animals and birds around us. What about trees? What trees do we know, and what makes them special? This time, as we read Banian Buddies, I will ask each of my book clubbers to make a presentation about a tree they can identify! I’m sure we’ll all learn something in the process.
Letter
Venky’s Thatha loves writing letters to The Grouchy Times. If you had to write a letter to the newspaper, what would you write about and why? How would you phrase your letter?
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The April 2026 edition of Read, Write, Explore is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
We’ve read four of Vibha Batra’s books at my book club, and some of them more than once! You could explore:
Mercy Watson to the Rescue
Three years ago, we read Because of Winn-Dixie at my book club, and we loved it. I’ve been mulling over Mercy Watson since even before that. It’s shorter than most of the other books we read at my book club. Would it be challenging enough? Or too childish?
Finally, I decided I would give it a shot next month. Shorter books give us the time to do more activities! Plus, especially as most of my book clubbers have not encountered Kate DiCamillo’s work, what better place to introduce a wonderful writer to them?
Pig or Dog?
The best thing about using a well known book at my book club is the range of resources I can find online! Before we read the book, we will discuss what my book clubbers think will happen in the story, based on what they see on the cover. And then, we’ll have a debate–pig or dog? Which makes for a better pet and why? Let’s try to find at least five reasons supporting each animal!
Fact or Opinion?
Evelyn Lincoln has a lot of opinions. What is an opinion and what is a fact? I will give my book clubbers a set of sentences about pigs, and they will determine whether each one is a fact or an opinion. From there, I’ll ask them to make two sentences about themselves–one fact and one opinion!
Oink!
Mercy Watson mostly says just one thing – “oink!” But does it mean the same thing in different contexts? We’ll read sections of the story written as simple dialogue, bringing expression into the way we read aloud–especially when it comes to the word oink!
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Book clubs give children the opportunity to read books they might not otherwise read. At my book club, I steer clear of books the children are already reading–whether it’s Bad Guys or Goosebumps. Introducing children to a new series they may love is such a joy!
The April 2026 edition is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Although the April edition is sold out, if you would like to try out this programme and read just one book with us, I have one seat open for each book we will be reading!
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips
I read The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips several years ago. And like most of Michael Morpurgo’s books, it’s a classic. In the cruellest, most inhuman of times, we find stories of courage and love – Morpurgo never fails to remind us of that.
Through a series of diary entries, we learn about 11-year-old Lily, who lives in Slapton in 1943. The war seems very far away, even though several “townies” now study in the same school as Lily. Life goes on as usual–until the people of Slapton are told they must evacuate in seven weeks. Lily’s grandfather refuses to move, but the time comes when he accepts that he will help the war effort by moving, so he does. The problem is that Lily’s precious cat, Tips, goes missing, and everyone begins to hunt for her, including the Yankee soldiers who are now in Slapton.
As the hunt for Tips goes on, relationships are formed, and these relationships drive the story, leading to the astonishing end of the book, one that fills us up and makes us rejoice.
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips is a beautiful, heartwarming story – I can’t wait to share it with my book club again!
Adolphus Tips
Lily renames her cat Adolphus Tips after the soldier Adolphus, whom she meets in Slapton. Whom would you name an animal after, and why? What about toys? Have you ever named a toy after someone?
Journalling
The story of Adolphus Tips is revealed to us through Lily’s diary, the perfect prompt for us to write a journal entry or two. We will begin by writing a little about ourselves – our day, and what makes it special. We will then move on to a more imaginative entry–about a day when we have to move out of our home to a new place.
Autobiography
We learn about Tips’s adventures through Lily, but what if Tips could write for herself? What would her diary look like?
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The April 2026 edition of Read, Write, Explore is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
I love Michael Morpurgo’s work! We read The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips at my book club for the first time in February 2023; I’m looking forward to rereading it with a new set of book clubbers. Meanwhile, if you’d like to explore some of his other work, here are a few books I’ve reviewed on my blog:
The Impossible Pet
I loved The Impossible Pet by Jane De Suza! It’s a delightful story–the perfect blend of laughter and seriousness. Here’s what we’ll do as we read it at my book club next month.
An Impossible Pet
Look at the cover. Which of the animals featured there would be an impossible pet? And if one of them came into your life, how would you deal with it? What would you name it, and what do you think would make the pet fun?
An Essay
Essays are boring–at least, most children think so. But what about an opening paragraph like this?
What I like most in the world is my pet. My pet’s name is Silent Sunny Gekkonidae. And he is the only crocodile which can climb walls.
I’d love to see where my book clubbers take the story from here!
Sharing
I love using whiteboards and sticky notes in class. As we read the book, we’ll take a look at what we’re willing to share, what we’re not willing to share, and what we’re sometimes willing to share. I’d love to see what the children add to the list I create!
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I love reading with children and setting them off on their own individual reading journeys! The younger they are when they develop a love for reading, the likelier they are to continue to read even as they grow older.
The April 2026 edition is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Sneaker Paati
Sneaker Paati is an engaging book that I read a few months ago. Even as I read it, I thought about the fact that it would make for a quick, easy read for middle-grade readers who want something lighthearted and fun. That’s why we’ll be reading it at my book club next month! Here’s what we’ll do as we read.
Grandparents
Grandparents in stories often knit, crochet, make delicious food, and pamper their grandchildren. Have you read about a grandmother who is different? What about your grandparents? I would love for the children at my book club to talk about grandparents who fit the mould or break the mould. At my book club, I will ask each child to tell me a story about a grandparent. Any sort of story will do–one that features their grandparents as children, or one that involves the book clubbers too!
Sport
Sneaker Paati can do karate and headstands. She encourages her grandson Kittu to swim. As we read the book, I would like my book clubbers to tell me about a sport of their choice. What draws them to the sport, or what makes them not want to play it? What can they tell me about the sport that the rest of us might not know?
Unconventional Characters
Creating unique characters is an important part of creating a story. What will make your character stand out? During the class reserved for writing, we will attempt to create a character who challenges our expectations in some way–either through their personality or through a superpower they may have!
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Read, Write, Explore is an online reading programme that combines the joy of reading with an introduction to creative writing. It is perfect for children who enjoy reading but aren’t yet committed to the discipline required for writing.
The April 2026 edition is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Trouble with Magic
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 realistic fiction and magic. Children are free to imagine anything at all in this realm and I’m waiting to see everything they create!
Here’s one of the creations from 2020!
Sense Perception
Paying attention to the world around us is the first step towards making sense of it. What happens to snow in the heat? What happens to leaves in the wind? How do we link these sounds to our emotions? With its effusion of colour and sound, Trouble with Magic allows for much sensitivity to the world around us.
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The April 2026 edition is sold out! New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
My Year in Workshops – 2025
Teacher training programmes often take me all over the country, but this time, author interactions did that for me! My teacher training was restricted to Pune, Goa and Nagpur, which gave me the time to do a lot of other things (including write!).
Online workshops continue to have my heart. I love the fact that I can conduct them from anywhere, whether I’m travelling or at home. This academic year, I discontinued my writers’ club at St. Mary’s School for precisely this reason—in-person sessions don’t allow for the flexibility my other work demands. I did create the next issue of THE WRITE PLACE for my young students, but subsequent issues are on hold, at least for the time being.
At my book clubs, we read 42 books in 2025. I had enough registrations to go ahead with each batch I planned! I invited six wonderful guests to conduct sessions for my writing programmes, all of which were engaging. Many students who joined me in 2020 are slowly outgrowing my writing programmes, bittersweet moments for all of us.
In 2025, I also launched online teacher training workshops for the first time, and they’ve been so rewarding! Here’s a little about each.
Book Clubs
Reading with children is a joy. I love listening to their points of view, paying attention to what catches their attention and what leaves them bored. As always, though, what works brilliantly with one batch may fail miserably with another!
Even with all the stress of whether the books will reach my students in time, I continue to source my books from independent bookstores, as far as possible. Additionally, I continue to focus on Indian books, in the hope that eventually, names of Indian authors will become as familiar to parents and children as all the big foreign ones they continue to read.
Creative Writing
Teaching creative writing online is something I never thought I would enjoy so much. Summer 2025 was quite hectic because I had so many students that instead of running two batches as usual, I had four! Reading their work, giving them feedback, working with edits and rewrites … it was exhausting, but fun, nonetheless. I taught new forms of poetry, and worked with drama, nonfiction and fiction in new ways. More than once, I stepped out of my comfort zone to teach genres I don’t normally teach.
Winter 2025 saw me teach two full batches, and for the guest sessions, I had to juggle three time zones because I had a student from Dubai, one from Taiwan, and one from Singapore!
In 2025, we created issue 6 and issue 7 of WORDS, our e-magazine. The next issue will be out very soon!
Our guest sessions are always special. Here are the experts who visited us last year!
I also conducted workshops for Joykidz and SkilLit Readers, working on concrete poetry, cinquains and free verse with the former, and two of my books with the latter – The Clockwala’s Clues and Dhara’s Revolution. These were fun too!
Teacher Training
Since I enjoy teaching creative writing so much, I decided to see whether I could help other teachers work with it too. I’ve conducted four workshops so far, and the response I received for each one has been heart-warming. In 2026, I hope to continue to conduct these sessions, perhaps once in two months, or once every quarter!
New online workshops begin every alternate month, and I’m always open to looking at offline workshops should schools require them. If you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes, please fill this form. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Meanwhile, a new year of workshops has already begun!
Gobi Goes Viral
Gobi Goes Viral by Vibha Batra is funny, heart-warming, and altogether believable. We’ve read and loved Kolam Kanna and Pinkoo Shergill at my book club, and I’m happy to introduce yet another book by the same writer to the children I meet. Here’s what we’ll do as we read this story!
Talent Show
How can we read a book about a talent show without having a talent show of our own? Over time, I’ve had children recite poetry, play musical instruments, draw and solve a Rubik’s Cube during our book club. It’s always lovely to see a side of children that I wouldn’t otherwise get to see if we stuck to just reading in class!
Similes
Gopi (aka Gobi) uses very interesting similes! Starting with an example from the text, we will explore funny similes, coming up with imaginative comparisons for a range of humorous things.
Vegetables
Whenever Gopi meets someone, he is reminded of a vegetable. This led to a fun conversation about what vegetables we’re like and why!
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We’re rereading this book by Vibha Batra at my book club because it was so much fun when we read it for the first time! We rapped, spoke about differences we see between people, and even invited author Vibha Batra to talk to us!
This edition of my book club is sold out!
New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone
A few months ago, when I read The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone, I knew I would eventually introduce this AKA Mystery to my book clubbers. Some of them have read The Mystery of the Missing Geometry Boxes with me; I look forward to introducing this one to them!
Detective Notebook
As we read The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone, we’ll write detective notes. Whom do we suspect and why? What evidence do we have so far? How can we evaluate the evidence and reach a conclusion?
Mystery Game
I’ve played this game in the past, and it’s good fun! I will give my book clubbers a set of clues, based on which we will try to figure out who the murderer is!
Satisfying Conclusions
Does a cliffhanger make for a satisfying conclusion? Why, or why not? The writing exercise we do for The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone will focus on how to end a story.
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Registrations are now closed for this edition of Read, Write, Explore. New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Amelia Bedelia Goes Wild
We read our first Amelia Bedelia (Amelia Bedelia Means Business) at the second edition of my reading programme, and what fun we had with it! Even though there were children who didn’t understand much of the word play, the humour came through, and we enjoyed the book thoroughly.
Amelia Bedelia Goes Wild promises to be just as much fun. Amelia is “sick as a dog”, and she can’t go to the zoo with the rest of her class. But it isn’t like Amelia to give up and give in. Oh, no. If she can’t go to the zoo, she must make one of her own!
Powered by her optimism and bursting with ideas, Amelia can do anything, as she shows us in this humorous chapter book that I’m waiting to share with my book club.
Wordplay
How can we read an Amelia Bedelia and not engage in wordplay? From idioms to homophones, this series explores the madness of the English language, delighting in the confusion its oddities create. We’ll go wild with a quiz on animal idioms, exploring how language can make you go bananas.
Animals
There exists a very special relationship between animals and children, and a book like Amelia Bedelia is perfect to explore this relationship. What strange animal facts do you know? What is your favourite animal and why? And most importantly, do you think it’s right to keep an animal in a zoo?
Figures of Speech
Amelia is sick as a dog. Are dogs always sick? And yet, the phrase sick as a dog exists. What other similes can we explore? Amelia Bedelia Goes Wild is perfect to (re)introduce similes, metaphors and hyperbole.
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Often, when I read a well-known book like Amelia Bedelia, a few children have already read it. It doesn’t matter in the least – they enjoy rereading it and laughing aloud once more. And the fun of a book club is that it’s not just about reading; it’s also about all the activities we do side by side.
This edition of my book club is sold out!
New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
A Boy Called Bat
What does it mean to be autistic? What exactly does the word inclusive mean?
I think these are conversations we must keep having, and the earlier we have them with children, the more likely it is that they will be sensitive to neurodiversity, and the fact that we can look at things from other points of view.
For me, the best way to have these conversations is through books – books like A Boy Called Bat.
Bat, aka Bixby Alexander Tam, is an unforgettable character, and his story is both funny and lovely. Bat may be autistic, but the truth is that all of us – neurotypical or neurodiverse – know what it is like to want something with all our heart.
And what does Bat want?
To convince his mother that a skunk kit is the perfect pet.
A story about friendship, sibling rivalry, and being different, A Boy Called Bat is another book we’re rereading at my book club because it’s such a rewarding, lovely story..
Our Five Senses
I’ve read so much about needing to rethink how we teach the senses. When we’re hungry, for instance, isn’t that a sense? Sure, we stub our toes and hit our elbows once in a while, but what sense prevents us from doing this all the time?
Understanding autism is also about understanding our senses and how they work. We’ll talk about the five senses we study at school, explore sights and sounds we like, and then move on to discussing what senses we have but take for granted.
Animals
Thanks to A Boy Called Bat, I learned that the young one of a skunk is called a kit! It’s a good time to explore a few others – foxes, wolves, kangaroos, and maybe a few unusual ones too.
Points of View
Bat’s mom thinks his dresser drawers are a mess. Bat thinks they’re organised. Janie is upset about her unicorn pajama top, even though Bat has a very logical explanation as to why he gave it to the skunk.
This is the perfect time to write two diary entries – one from Janie’s point of view and one from Bat’s. What would make them different? Which of them is in the wrong?
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Registrations are now closed for this edition of Read, Write, Explore. New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Help, My Aai Wants to Eat Me!
Yes, Help, My Aai Wants to Eat Me! is as mad and fun as it sounds. I know LOTS of people who express affection by saying they want to eat people up. People like Avi’s Aai who thinks Avi is so adorable that she wants to eat him.
The problem is that Avi thinks she’s for real. And when his Aai is ill, he’s sure that he is being fattened up for her, rather like the story of Hansel and Gretel, where the witch fattens children up to eat them …
It’s humorously horrifying, but also sweet and charming; we’re definitely going to enjoy reading Help, My Aai Wants to Eat Me! at my book club.
Pros and Cons
Avi looks at the pros and cons of everything, and we’re going to use this idea in class. What are the pros and cons of reading in a group? What about of online book clubs? Schools reopening?
Notes
Each day that his mother is sick, Avi writes a little note, just like his Aai would do. The notes are no more than a few sentences long, the perfect way to take our journalling journeys forward! We’ll take ten days to read Help, My Aai Wants to Eat Me! at my book club, and during these ten days, I’ll ask the children to write a little note to themselves every day. At our last class, we’ll share the most interesting ones with the others.
Food Idioms
A cup of tea. A piece of cake. You’re toast. A lemon (we came across this when we read Amelia Bedelia Means Business too!). What else? We’re going to be reading yet another book about food, so we’ll take our food explorations one step further by exploring the ways in which food finds its way into the English language.
I’ve chosen this book for my book club for the second time because we enjoyed it so much the first time we read it! Here’s some of what we did!
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New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.