Bookworms Inc. Book blog for kids by kids

Al Qamar Academy kids are confirmed book addicts. With reading being the only assigned homework, events like DEAR Time and Read-a-thons, in class libraries and frequent book discussions, what else would they be?

Very happy to share Bookworms Inc. - our students' book blog - featuring book recommendations by Al Qamar Academy students. Book recommendations for kids by kids..

Do subscribe for regular updates - the kids will keep recommending books as they read.

Nanowrimo Writers' Workshop #9

Points of View was the topic of the #Nanowrimo Writers' Workshop today.

"You can write your novel from any point of view." I said. "Protagonist, Antagonist, Supporting Character, 3rd person Narrator or a mix. And can choose to have these peole talk in 1st or 3rd person".

We came up with examples of each. 3rd person narrator is the most commonly used perspective. The kids' favorites fall into this category  - the Enid Blyton books.  We discussed how this POV gives the author distance from her characters.

"Name a book in which the supporting character acts as the narrator?" I queried. Pat came the response "Sherlock Holmes!"  We discussed how Watson is really the reader in the story - by asking questions and begging for explanations.

Geronimo, a hot favourite,  is written from the 1st person point of view of the protagonist. "An author can carry that off if the main character is really strong", I explained.

The kids were most curious about the 1st person narrative by a villain, and pestered me to tell them the name of books where this happens. I bluntly refused. "I'd be ruining the story for you if I told you.  One day when you read such a story, remember your Aneesa Aunty.!"

We then settled down to a read aloud - I selected "Lamb for the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl.

*Spoiler Alert* Do not read further, if you haven't read that short story.

The children were engrossed in the tale as it slowly unfolded, the murder happened and the alibi created.  The end had them gasping " That was a story from the villian's point of view!"

We had a lively debate about who was the villian.  And which character garnered the childrens' sympathy. Interestingly, most of the girls and the 6th grade boys sided with Patrick.

The dissenting opinion came from some of the 7th grade boys. " He had such a lovely wife! How could he plan to leave her?" "She was pregnant. His action cannot be condoned". "What about the unborn child? He'd never know his father who left him"

The kids cajoled me into reading one more story. We picked "Charles" by Shirley Jackson. The giggled at all the exploits of Charles in his classroom, in  obvious admiration for his derring do.

However they surprised me during the discussion which followed. "Who do you sympathise with in the story?" I asked . "The teacher" was the unanimous answer from the children, in sharp contrast to my colleagues and my sympathy for the child Charles himself!

#Nanowrimo- you rock! You've opened doors to absolutely fascinating English classes.

Nanowrimo Writers' Workshop #8

This #Nanowrimo Writers' Workshop was on creating settings. We discussed the use of descriptive language which paints a picture in the mind of a reader.

We discussed what settings mean - both location and time. Children often confuse setting with specifics - morning, evening or home, school. We talked about how an author can use a general or broader location and time and vary the specifics within the novel.

The importance of research was emphasised. Children brainstormed all the different variables they'd have to research to build authenticity - from the language, social mores, government types, physiques, history to food, religion, dress. An imaginary setting allows the author to create all these.

The importance of localisation came up.  Most Indian children of this background read American or British authors. They are heavily influenced by these books. Which means their own writing is usually set in the US, with White American characters, with names like Jack, Tom or Jill in a setting which is completely alien to these kids. Not only does the writing sound false, a greater problem is the lack of representation of kids like themselves. "How many times have you encountered kids like yourselves in books- with names like yours?" I asked. "You have a wonderful opportunity to create a narrative which hardly exists - with kids eating sambhar or biryani, playing on a beach with salt spray stinging their faces, watching the coconut palms swaying gently in the breeze" Hopefully the message will sink in.

We went on to discussing how settings can create moods or reveal facets about their characters.  Kids got to speedwrite descriptions of various settings and read them aloud. They went onto writing out settings from the different parts of their own novels.