Why Trick Them into Good Decisions?

Have you watched these commercials on T.V? Sunny-D Orange juice Fiber One cereal Johnsonville Chicken sausages What do they all have in common? They claim that the products they are advertising are good for our health. Not only that, but each of them shows a mom/dad getting the kids used to the product via subterfuge. [...]

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Another Recipe From My WIP: Mango Lassi

The main character (MC) in my current WIP (Work-In-Progress) loves Mango Lassi. Her dad, who is the better cook in the family and who also happens to be putty in my MC’s hands, makes it for her whenever she craves it. This version of the recipe has been customized for my MC’s tastes. Basically, it’s simpler [...]

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Miniature World

I sat in my idling car at the tail end of the school’s carpool line, with an open book in my lap. My mind was elsewhere, mulling over this and that. I noticed a bright flash of color through the corner of my eye and turned to my left. I saw a little girl, clad [...]

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First Day of School

Today is the first day of the new school year here. Just the thought of it brings to my mind a montage of recollections, from when I was a child myself to the present, when I’m a parent… First day of school is: Sadness that the season of ‘lazing about with no routine’ is past. [...]

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Shashi Deshpande

When I was seven or eight, a children’s club came into existence within the neighborhood (thank God to those adults who had the idea to found it!) in which we lived.  It was called Baal Bhavan, which translates to “The Building for Children”. And very aptly it was named too, because it was a place [...]

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Another Snippet from My WIP

A few months ago, I posted an excerpt from my current WIP (Work-In-Progress), a  middle grade (multicultural) historical fantasy. That snippet had been a dialogue, an active exchange, among several characters in the novel. This time, I thought I’d post a piece of narrative. Opinions, critiques, suggestions? Please send them my way! ***           I looked [...]

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Book Clubs

I have come across several kinds of book clubs:  Those that have both men and women meeting on a regular basis to discuss books  Some that meet in a book store Those that are led by a librarian from a school or a public library  Still others that focus on a particular genre (Mystery book [...]

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What’s Hot in Children’s Literature

Publisher’s Weekly has released year 2009′s hardcover  and paperback frontlist and backlist bestsellers. Here’s a definition of backlist and frontlist from Google:                 A backlist is a list of older books available from a publisher, as opposed to titles newly published, which is sometimes called the frontlist. My Impressions from the list: Three facts jumped at me [...]

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Help Them Bloom

Children are like flowers Some bloom easily and on time Others have a harder time – don’t give up hope Keep telling them how much you love them, and that they will bloom Soon, they, too, will turn into such beautiful blossoms As to take your breath away      - Unknown Like I mentioned in my [...]

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Children’s Classics

In keeping with the topic for this week, here are excerpts from a few children’s classics from my bookshelf. Again, they are presented in no particular order, and these form but a mere fraction of all the incredible works available to us.  All the books I have selected have the following things in common: They [...]

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