House of Stories - A Book Club for Children

The Tree Lover by Ruskin Bond The Tree Lover is a short story based on the author's memories about his grandfather who was a tree lover. Serving as a forest officer in India, he used to plant as many trees as he could. In this book Ruskin Bond talks about his vacation with grandparents and how deeply his grandfather loved trees. He would spend time with them caring for them as his own children. Every monsoon he sets out on a short trip to nearby forests or isolated dry areas and plants seeds, saplings, cuttings so that once the monsoon is over, everything he planted would flourish. The huge old peepal tree that forced its way through the walls of the outhouse was maintained and it became a gala ground for all the creatures.  Once night sets in, the insects would start their orchestra to which little Ruskin would join too. His grandfather had told him that trees can walk and as if assuring what he said, he found it later that all the seeds, saplings, cuttings they planted together s

The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond The Blue Umbrella written by Ruskin Bond is a short and simple read. It is humorous and enriched with values for children. This is a story about ten year old Binyadevi, a mountain girl in the village named Garhwal. She is very courageous and possesses good character strength for her age. Binya is in charge of fetching cows in the evening. One such day she happened to see a pretty blue umbrella among the rich picnickers and fell in love with it. Fortunately for her, the woman who owned the blue umbrella coveted leopard’s claw Binya was wearing on her neck to ward off evil and asked her the same in exchange of the blue umbrella. The pretty blue umbrella became the talk of the village and she went everywhere with it. Some became envious and one man Ram Bharosa, the tea seller coveted it so badly that he made his worker boy to steal it from her. The boy stole it from her, but together along with her brother Bijju managed to get it back f

Shadow by Michael Morpurgo Shadow written by Michael Morpurgo is a story of friendship between two boys, Aman and Matt. Aman along with his Mother stays in Manchester as an asylum seeker. Aman’s Mother and Aman along with their dog Shadow, had fled from Afghanistan dreaming a peaceful life. After staying with his uncle for 6 years and as they slowly started to adapt to the new life, the government officials took them away to a detention centre for having them deported to Afghanistan. With the help of Matt’s journalist grandfather, he cooked up a brilliant scheme to get the government agree to let them stay. The dog Shadow had a great role in buying Aman and his Mother freedom they wanted. The idea for the story Shadow is inspired by a similar incident that actually happened during the war time, where the sniffer black Labrador went on missing and was returned 14 months later in good health. The author has told the story in simple words and managed to picture the l

One Dog and His Boy by  Eva Ibbotson               Yet another pet story book for discussion. One Dog and His Boy is a story of friendship between a boy and a dog. Hal, the little boy was brought up by rich parents in a mansion. His parents gave him everything a boy needs or wants, except for the care or attention he wanted. Though Hal had everything, he was lonely in that big mansion with immaculate interiors that his mother changed following the latest trends. Nothing seemed real and he longed for some real companion and a childhood with real friends and fun. Hal had always wanted a dog of his own, to pet, to play, to cuddle and asked his parents to get a dog as his birthday present. As his style and cleanliness obsessive mother does not want dog’s hair on her carpet or paw marks on her wooden floors and doors, his pleading for such a birthday present fell into deaf ears. His mother’s knacky- wacky idea of dressing up a man like a dog to entertain him on his birth

The Friends by  Rosa Guy The saying, ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’, goes right about Edith, the only friend of Phyllisia, the lead character in the story The Friends by Rosa Guy. Phyllisia with her snobbish behaviour instead befriended Edith only if she needed her. Edith stood by her when students in the class booed and bullied her. Since then Phyllisia knew, though she hated to be seen with ragamuffin like Edith, she needed her the most. After all Edith is the only friend she has in Harlem. Her bond with Calvin her father is diminishing. She did things to spite him like bunking classes, staying out late with strangers. After her father chased out Edith of the house, Phyllisia did not bother about checking on her even when she heard Edith’s brother Randy had died.  Amidst all chaos she lost her mother, her only solace. Instead of being with her Phyllisia indulged in the diversions of youth, desperately avoiding her guilt feelings for not being there for Edith.

To Kill a Mocking Bird   by Harper Lee To Kill a Mocking Bird- Harper Lee To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee is one of the best classics of modern American literature. Published in 1960, it rounds up an event happened when the author was 10. She brings to light the culture, tradition and the lifestyle of her family and the neighbourhood in her hometown in Alabama during 1936.   The narrative by Harper Lee explains in languid manner the childhood events of Jean Louise and her brother Jeremy. It starts off explaining how her brother got a crooked arm and went on like any simple childhood story with friends and summer time adventures including peeking into a strange and lonely house where the inhabitant never left the house for years. By the flow of the story one would assume that the story is about the characters getting acquainted with an odd character Arthur, whom they have only heard about but not met. Slowly the author takes a turn connecting serious aspects like l

Sam Angus Born in Italy and grew up in France, Samantha Angus is a bestselling and award-winning author of historical adventure novels for children. Her novels reflect some of the bleakest moments of British and Colonial history.  Being a lady with a knack for getting into trouble for various reasons, one for keeping a dog in her college room, you are in no wonder to expect nothing but adventure stories from her that are sure to enthrall children. She went on to read English at Trinity College, Cambridge and Central St Martins to study fashion. Later on she taught A Level English Literature and then became a full time writer. She lives near London with her 5 children, horses and a West Highland Terrier. Her book Soldier Dog was longlisted in CILIP Carnegie Medal 2013, Captain in 2015 and The House on Hummingbird Island for 2017. She won or been shortlisted for many local and national awards like the North East Book Award, The Sussex Coast Amazing Book Award, the East Lothian L

The House on Hummingbird Island      by  Sam Angus Snatched it at the first sight. I pleaded my kid to choose this book instead of Geronimo Stilton from the public library (too much of Stilton in her blood…by reading them of course).The name ‘ The House on Hummingbird Island ’ itself was soothing like chimes in the wind. The book opens to a magical world of Idie Grace, a twelve year old heiress who was transported to Caribbean Islands from the grey old England. You can imagine her surprise at living in a sun-kissed land full of vibrant colours. What waited for her was mysteries in the majestic halls and closed rooms of her inherited mansion, the once home to her parents she never knew. In the land where everybody spoke in whispers and in riddles she did not understand, Austin befriended her and gave her all sorts of exotic pets a lonely child of her age longed for. The adventures and frolic in Idie’s childhood gave way to the complexities of youth. As you read on the stor

Is Reading Safe for Your Children? Of course, what can a book do to a child! Reading is safer for kids compared any screen time, says my ophthalmologist every time I take my kids for their annual visit. But any sort of addiction could gradually take toll on children’s physical and mental health. Reading too falls in that category. How so?  Here’s a few simple things I learned from my kids’ ophthalmologist to take care while reading. Proper Lighting: There should be ample light in the room they read. Take proper care so the light falls on their book and not on their bowed head. Choosing a book with bigger fonts and enough spacing will be more comfortable for kids. Clean Spectacles: This is a serious concern for those who have glasses. Smudgy and greasy glasses will strain young eyes. Insist your children to clean them before they start reading. Proper Distance:   Keep books at least 15cms away from your face while reading. Do not lie down and read