SOULspace

Book Club at Think Box Library; while I introduce an author, we play games( Vocabulary), and some other( Fun and book based). I have always liked to work in small groups, more meaningful engagement and children too go back feeling they spent some honestly interactive time. Wondering which author to introduce for the last session, the first was Dr.Seuss, and then Jan and Stan Berenstain. Its interesting that these 2 are connected. The Berenstains worked for Dr.Seuss publishing company... I have committed to Franklin next week and so wonder who should be the last one in this 4 session Activity. Many Interesting Books/Authors out there; who to choose and who to read...That is the question!!

Why do I have Rupa here? Good question. Its just that I did a story last Saturday "Little Vinayak" of Karadi Tales at another Library I love to go to, and once again I found that Elephants are such versatile creatures. Are they actually so, or do they transform into this magical creature in the hands of authors who can make them dance to any tune? They are so lovable, so emotional and so blessed with a be-what-I-will, that any author who casts an elephant in his/her lead role can never go wrong.  The first story that I ever told to an audience was the tale of an elephant, the sweet Rupa, (by Mickey patel;CBT), she is quite famous and most storytellers have her tale in their story bag I think. I know I did/do, and I know that my sister-in-law, who also tells wonderful tales to little minds, had completely pocketed my daughter with this story, way back when she was a tiny thing with big starry eyes and ears full of stories from her favorite aunt.  That Rupa ...

Ever since I got a mail asking me to review Katha’s latest contribution to the world of stories, I was doing a jig of anticipation in my own mental world as I am always ready to receive a book!  ....And the book arrived at my door step pretty fast! This book is a collection of 29 short stories written by children from schools across the country as part of the Katha-HP Write&Read initiative. Bring together interactive creative writing workshops, budding enthusiastic writers and a revolutionary ePrint tool, then it results in this one-of-a-kind compilation. The winning stories have been selected by Prasoon Joshi, a writer exemplar (what a tough job to do!) with introductions by Joshi, Neeraj Sharma (HP) and Geeta Dharmarajan (Katha). For anyone who is interested in writings by children for children, the tone is well set by these stalwarts. I turned the pages in anticipation. The topics are varied, yet strains of similarity do join a few, but w...

'Finally, what matters is the story, not the teller." A storyteller feels the pang!! How can Devdutt Pattanaik finish the story with such a disputable statement is what I thought? Is he justified in saying this? I am biased when I say this, but every story is in the tellers skill as he weaves his magic around the warp and the weft of his story. Truly magic has been created in this book by Devadutt Pattanaik which has been illustrated by Nancy Raj. How it came home? Tulika Books happily sent  free books to all those who had participated in their very first blogathon. It arrived when we were just leaving Kanpur for our annual vacation to Chennai. So it got packed in. But somehow  in between the packing and the leaving, it got unpacked, and I found my daughter reading it! The Verdict After the routine million questions on where this book had come from and why, my daughter decided to review it for me "Amma I will read the book and tel...

At the beginning I wish to make myself clear… All opinions/views/ideas/suggestions expressed here are purely my own!! This is a personal blog, and my intention is to share information that is of interest to me, and hope that it could be of some use/interest to my viewers… Having made my disclaimer loud and clear, I will now move on…!! I realize that many are interested in books, and those working/ living with kids can have no other preoccupation!! So here is a compilation of publishers and the kind of books that is available in the market for children. I have combined foreign publishers and Indian ones. Many foreign publishers have entered the Indian market. So depending on your pocket, you can pick and choose what suits you. I found 3 publishing websites, with comprehensive lists of publishers. They are a western compilation, but as I said, there is no harm in knowing… www.publishing central.com www.blueroses.com www.acqweb.org Enter these portals and look for children’s publisher’s a...

Have you read a tasteless book? Have you seen one? No, I don’t mean the books that are meant to be trashy and have only one running theme through them. I don’t mean those… My blood boils when I see a book which is meant for the discerning audience, but is fit for the kabadiwallah . They are disguised as books for children and come in many tasteless shapes, colors, fonts and themes. This new trend of bringing mythological characters in their primitive childhood form and cavorting them around our gullible and impressionable children is most irritating. As they devour characters like Chota Bheem and Chota Birbal on screen, this is further supplemented by books which come with names like “Chota B and the Smelly Mountain Rakshas!!” Have you read such books…?? I may seem like a snob, but excuse me, isn’t the minimum requirement for a story, especially children’s story; a Story Line??!! Then there are some books, which hide behind titles that have been around for a thousand years. Like the Ar...