Category Books

What was CS Lewis famous for?

C.S. Lewis gained acclaim as a children’s author for his classic series The Chronicles of Narnia. He also gained acclaim for his popular apologetics, including such works as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. What is more, he gained acclaim as a science fiction writer for his Ransom Trilogy.

Narnia is a land of adventure and magic. Here animals talk and one’s imagination knows no bounds. There is a talking lion, there is a wardrobe that hies you away to the land of Narnia where adventures are waiting to begin.

The story chronicles the adventures of the four children, Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund, when they enter Narnia through an old wardrobe. There they join forces with the lion Aslan in the fight with the wicked White Witch. The Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies till date.

Lewis was born on November 29, 1898 in Belfast, Ireland. He wrote around 40 books, reaching out to a vast section of readers including children and adults.. Lewis was also an academic. He taught English Literature at Oxford University until 1954.

Childhood

Lewis grew up in a household that gave importance to reading and education. Did you know that Lewis was more like a prodigy? He started reading at the age of three and by the age of five, he started writing stories.

The stories revolved around a fantasy land filled with “dressed animals”. This collection of early stories was published as “Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C.S. Lewis (1985)”.

Early years

Lewis served in France with the Somerset Light Infantry in World War I. He later started his studies at Oxford. He became a tutor at Magdalen College, Oxford, and later a professor at the University of Cambridge.

Lewis as a writer “Out of the Silent Planet’ (1938), was his first work of fiction that garnered attention. This was followed by “Perelandra” (1943) and ‘That Hideous Strength” (1945) which were both successful. These three novels form a science-fiction trilogy that revolves around the journeys of an English linguist named Elwin Ransom. “The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition” (1936) was Lewis’ first scholarly work.

The enduring appeal of Narnia

It all started in 1950, when “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was published. Soon it was followed by a series of six stories that came to be called “The Chronicles of Narnia”, a children’s fantasy book series. The books were then adapted for the big and the small screens. With the series, its author C.S. Lewis became one of the well-loved children’s book authors.

During World War II, four 5 siblings are sent to a safe place to protect themselves from the And at this country house, in the backdrop of all the carnage of the war, they find a magic door, a door to an adventure land- Narnia. One day, Lucy, the youngest of the siblings finds a wardrobe that takes her to the land of talking animals, dwarves, giants and so on. Once she returns from Narnia, she takes her siblings to the adventure land, the place which is at war. Aslan, the talking lion, is gathering an army to fight the evil White Witch who has cursed Narnia with eternal winter. The cousins join the army and fight the war and win, eventually good triumphs over evil. For the children, the wardrobe and Narnia are their escape from the real world, but they triumph in the war they get embroiled in at Narnia. The juxtaposition of the real war with that of the war in the fantasy world of Narnia explores the themes of existence, life and its meaning.

In 1956, Lewis married Joy Davidman Gresham. Six months after their marriage, his wife was diagnosed with advanced cancer. Although her cancer went into a period of remission, the disease returned and she died in 1960. Lewis channelled all his grief into his book “A Grief Observed”, published in 1961. The 1993 biographical drama “Shadowlands” fictionalised their relationship

In 1963 Lewis wrote his last book “Letters to Malcolm.” He died at the age of 64 in 1963.

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Who was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?

Long, entertaining and enticing. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poems take you on a memorable trip down U.S. history. Hailed for their musical verses, Longfellow’s poems are treasured and widely translated even today. Some of us might have even studied them as part of our syllabus. Prominent public figures from Abraham Lincoln and Charles Dickens to Charles Baudelaire were admirers of his poetry.

Born on February 27, 1807 in Portland, Maine in the U.S., Longfellow started his career as a professor at Bowdoin College and later at Harvard College. But he gave up teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing. His works “Evangeline” (1847), “The Song of Hiawatha” (1855), and “Paul Revere’s Ride” (1860) cemented his place as one of the iconic poets of the U.S. He was the first American to translate Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”.

Popular works

Let’s take a look at some of his noteworthy poems and the history behind them…

“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Written in a manner that suggests the galloping of a horse, Longfellow writes about the actions of American patriot Paul Revere in this poem. Revere is known for his midnight horse ride to alert the colonial militia in April 1775 to the approach of British forces. Longfellow wrote this epic poem as the U.S. moved towards a civil war. Though the poem has been criticised for its factual inaccuracies, it has been hailed as a call for courage.

“The Song of Hiawatha”

A long poem about the life of the Native Indians, “The Song of Hiawatha” tells the tale of Hiawatha, an Ojibwa Indian who becomes his people’s leader after performing feats of courage.

“Evangeline”

A sentimental poem, “Evangeline” follows a young couple separated when British soldiers expel the French colonists from what is now Nova Scotia. The couple, Evangeline and Gabriel, are reunited years later as Gabriel is dying.

Translating Dante

Longfellow lost the will to write after the death of his second wife 1861. She died after her dress accidentally caught fire. Seeking comfort in spirituality, he translated ‘The Divine Comedy” by Dante. He also wrote six sonnets on Dante that are among his finest poems.

Other works:

  • “Poems on Slavery” (1842)
  • “The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems” (1845)
  • “The Courtship of Miles Standish” (1858)
  • “The Golden Legend” (1851)
  • “The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems” (1875)
  • “The Seaside and Fireside” (1849)

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyer recited lines from Longfellow’s 1849 poem The Building of the Ship,” during Trump’s impeachment trial on February 10. 2021. The famous lines from the poem are: “Fear not each sudden sound and shock, Tis of the wave and not the rock.”
  • The Portland Gazette published Longfellow’s first poem at the age of 13.
  • Longfellow was a dog lover! His family had many pets, but Trap the Scotch Terrier was his favourite.
  • Longfellow is the only American to be honored with a bust in Westminster Abbey in London, England. His marble bust was placed in the Poet’s Comer in 1884.
  • One of his students at Harvard University was Henry David Thoreau.
  • Longfellow was a polyglot and could speak eight languages.

 

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What is Charles Dickens most famous work?

Charles Dickens depicted the best of times and the worst of times through his books. Full of wit, astute observations, and autobiographical experience, they offer a realistic portrayal of the Victorian society in the 19th Century.

Hard times

Born in England in 1812, Dickens’ family fell back on hard times when his father was sent to a debtors’ prison. Just 12 years of age, Dickens was forced to drop out of school and work in a shoe polish factory to repay the debts.

A debtors’ prison was where people unable to pay their debts were incarcerated in the 19th Century. With its dingy rooms and stale food, people lived in wretched conditions in these places. They either have to do hard labour or secure outside funds to repay their debts.

At the factory, Dickens worked ten hours a day, Monday through Saturday, pasting labels onto individual pots of polish. All he received was six shillings per week. He toiled in the factory for nearly a year before his father was released from prison. Dickens recounted the harsh conditions he experienced in the factory in his semi-autobiographical novel “David Copperfield and it continued to shape his writing.

Beating the odds

Learning shorthand on his own, Dickens became a journalist and worked as a court reporter. He went on to edit a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles.

Controversy

Although he is highly regarded as a writer, Dickens’ reputation is far from unblemished. Some of his works have been criticised for their racist and xenophobic views.

Significant works

Dickens is credited with popularising serialised novels. “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club” (popularly known as “The Pickwick Papers”) was published in instalments over 19 issues from March 1836 to October 1837. Dickens wrote most of “The Pickwick Papers” under the pseudonym Boz. His other popular works include “Great Expectations”, “Oliver Twist”, “A Tale of Two Cities” and “A Christmas Carol”.

Did you know?

  • India connection: Dickens’ second son, Lietuenant Walter Landor Dickens died in Kolkata in 1864. His original grave is located at the Bhowanipore Cemetery, while his tombstone has been moved to South Park Street Cemetery.
  • More than cats or dogs, Dickens preferred the company of ravens. His pet raven was named Grip. After its death, Dickens had the bird stuffed and mounted in a display case. You can view it at the Free Library in Philadelphia in the U.S. In fact, Grip also features in his novel “Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty”. It is also believed that Edgar Allan Poe, a friend of Dickens, was inspired by Grip when writing “The Raven”, one of his most celebrated poems.
  • While working in the shoe polish factory, Dickens used to visit his parents in prison on Sundays.
  • The greeting ‘Merry Christmas’ became popular after A Christmas Carol was published.
  • He called his favourite daughter Kate, “Lucifer Box” because her temper could flare up in an instant.
  • Dickens is credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with introducing no less than 247 new words and usages into the language including “butter-fingers”, “fluffiness” and the verb “to manslaughter”.

 

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What kind of genre is slice of life?

As the name suggests, slice of life is a genre of fiction that captures the essence of everyday life. Instead of narrating a person’s entire life, these books focus on select events that occur at a particular point in time.

What makes slice of life appealing is though the characters are fictional, the story has no frills, and depicts significant events from people’s lives. Often slice of life stories throw light on a period in history. For instance, Laura Ingall Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie” books give a slice-of-life account of the pioneers to the American Midwest.

In theatre, the term “slice of life” refers to a naturalistic representation of real life. The term originated between 1890 and 1895 from the French phrase ‘tranche de vie’, credited to the French playwright Jean Jullien.

Often, slice of life books lack a traditional plot. They might not have any conflict or dramatic occurrences. They progress slowly, but pay attention to even the minutest details of the character’s life at a given time. They are considered to be faithful reproductions of real life.

Lucy Maud Montgomery’s “The Anne of Green Gables” series is a classic example. It is a slice of life centred on a young woman aspiring to be a writer.

Manga and animé

Slice of life is also a popular genre in Japanese animé and manga. Unlike in literature, slice of life in manga is unrealistic. Packed with melodrama in typical manga style, it shows too many dramatic events in the characters life over a short span of time.

Examples:

In literature:

  • “The Fault in Our Stars Looking for Alaska” and “Paper Towns” by John Green
  • “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
  • “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
  • “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott
  • “The Casual Vacancy” by J.K. Rowling
  • “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult
  • “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery

 

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What are the most popular types of children’s books?

Family matters

A bitter-sweet tale of the March family, Lousia May Alcott’s “Little Women” will fill you up with the warmth of friendship and family. A semi-autobiographical book, “Little Women” is loosely based upon Alcott’s family – she was the second of four daughters. Despite being published in 1868, the coming-of-age story of the four March sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy – remains timeless and universal. It tells of love and loss, aspirations and dreams that the sister’s experience on their journey to adulthood.

Over the years, the classic has been adapted into many films and plays. The 1994 film adaptation is one of the most acclaimed version with Winona Ryder as Jo and Christian Bale as Laurie. In 2019, Greta Gerwig’s adaptation was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Winds of change

Kenneth Graham’s “The Wind in the Willows” has been adored from generation to generation. In this enduring classic, we meet his splendid animal characters: Mole, Rat, Mr. Toad and Mr. Badger, and revel in their adventures on the banks of the River Thames. Told in Graham’s gorgeous lyrical prose, readers will be transported with tales of Toad Hall, the Wild Wood. This book is an endearing treasure. Grahame wrote this classic after retiring from his job as a bank secretary and moving to Berkshire. He spent much of his time next to the River Thames and got the idea to expand the bedtime stories he used to tell his son Alastair.

An English summer

From the “Famous Five” and “Secret Seven” to the “Malory Towers” and “Adventures of the Wishing Chair”, Enid Blyton has a story for every age group. But her ‘The Faraway Tree’ series is one that has universal appeal. Jo, Bessie and Fanny come across an ancient tree in the middle of an enchanted forest. The tree is so gigantic that its top reaches clouds that hold magical lands! Together with the tree’s unique inhabitants such as Moonface, Saucepean Man and Silky the pixie, the cousins explore different worlds on top of the tree.

Adventures of Anne

Between 1908 and 1939, Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote seven books about an imaginative, talkative, high-spirited girl named Anne Shirley. Set in the 20th century, in a fictitious town of Avonlea on the tiny Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, “Anne of Green Gables” is the most popular book in the series. And no wonder. It is pure joy to read. It follows the adventures of Anne, a sweet-natured and cheerful girl with bright red hair. An 11-year-old orphan, she is mistakenly sent to live with the Cuthbert family, who had originally intended to adopt a boy. Anne has a quirky imagination and a vivacious manner, which makes her a likeable character. As she gets into hilarious mishaps and merry mischief, you will find yourself rooting for this red-haired girl!

An unlikely friendship

Published in October, 1952, “Charlotte’s Web” is one of the most popular children’s books by E.B. White. A young Fern Arable saves the life of a newborn pig on her father’s farm. She names him Wilbur and nurtures him lovingly. However, when she grows up, she is forced to sell Wilbur to her uncle who intends to slaughter him for food. That’s when Charlotte, a barn spider, who can read and write come up with a way to save Wilbur’s life. With the help of other farm animals, Charlotte convinces the Zuckerman family that Wilbur is actually quite special by weaving words and short phrases in praise of Wilbur into her web. The book weaves a heartwarming tale of an unlikely friendship.

HEAR, HEAR

  • Here’s a list of some of classics that are now available for free as audio books:
  • “Frankenstein”, written by Marry Shelley and narrated by David Dobrik
  • “Great Expectations”, written by Charles Dickens and narrated by James Langton Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte and narrated by Sarah Coombs
  • “Persuasion”, written by Jane Austen and narrated by Cynthia Erivo

 

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What are the popular works of Agatha Christie?

Born in September 15, 1890 in the town of Devon, Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie was a gifted child. She overcame dysgraphia, an inability to write text, to author 66 detective novels, 14 short stories, and the world’s longest-running play, ‘The Mousetrap”. Here are some of her popular works:

“The Mysterious Affair at Styles”

“The Mysterious Affair at Styles” was Christie’s first published novel. It introduced Hercule Poirot, Inspector Japp, and Arthur Hastings, who became some of the recurring characters in her novels. Poirot uses his detective skills to solve the mystery of a murder in his new neighbourhood.

“Murder On the Orient Express”

Published on January 1, 1934, “Murder on the Orient Express” is an intriguing read. Heavy snowfall stops the Orient Express in its tracks. By morning one of its passengers is dead in his compartment with the door locked from the inside. In this classic whodunnit, all the passengers are suspects in the eyes of detective Poirot. The book was adapted to the silver screen in 1974 and 2017.

“Death on the Nile”

In this fast paced novel, action takes place in Egypt. While on vacation, Poirot investigates the murder of a young heiress. A Netflix adaptation of the classic is set to release this year.

“The Mousetrap”

Running continuously for over 60 years, “The Mousetrap” established Agatha Christie as a playwright in the public eye. His story was adapted from a radio play, “Three Blind Mice”, written for the Royal family in 1947.

 

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What is Enjambment poem?

From the tricky periods to the troublesome comma taught grammar – the we are hallowed rules that govern any language – right from our primary school years. Following them stringently, not a comma out of place, makes for good prose writing. On the other hand, the beauty of poetry lies in the fact that the poet can take grammatical liberties. The enjambment is a case in point.

A literary device used in poetry, enjambment (French for stepping over) helps in carrying over a sentence or phrase from one line to the next without any punctuation. No full stops, no m-dashes, or no semicolons. Sounds incredible, right?

Examples

Here’s how it works. Many poems have lines with a natural pause or punctuation to convey ideas. These are known as end stopped lines. Whereas enjambment ends a line in the middle of a phrase, allowing it to continue onto the next. Using enjambment poets, can create a free-flowing poem.

William Carlos Williams’ “Between Walls” (1938) is a classic example

“the back wings

of the

hospital where

nothing will grow lie

cinders

in which shine the broken

pieces of a green bottle

Breaking one sentence into 10 enjambed lines gives the poem a certain pace and adds to the dramatic effect.

Without enjambment, the poem would have simply read the back wings of the hospital, where nothing will grow, lie cinders in which shine the broken pieces of a green bottle.”

See how enjambment can change the tone of the poem?

Setting the pace

Thanks to enjambment, the lines can move quickly as the eye hops to the next line to follow the thought or meaning of the poem.

This technique helps the poet to communicate the mood of the poem, give it momentum and even create some tension.

For instance, TS Eliot’s, The Waste Land (1922) cleverly uses enjambment to evoke changing seasons:

“April is the cruelest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

Winter kept us warm,

covering

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers.”

So the next time you sit down to write a poem, try your hand at this unique literary device!

 

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What is the story of the Project Northmoor?

Nestled between a canopy of trees, the house on 20 Northmoor Road looks like any other in the U.K. countryside. However, it is a round blue plaque on the front of the house that sets it apart. Bold writing on the blue circle proudly declares, “J.R.R. Tolkien, author of “The Lord of the Rings” lived here.”

And, the 97-year-old house, which has been put up for sale in December 2020, has spurred a controversial crowdfunding campaign, supported by popular British actors, to convert it into a centre dedicated to the author and his works.

Tolkien lived at the house between 1930 and 1947 with his wife Edith.

According to the press release, Project Northmoor is now working to raise $6 million by March 15, 2021. Many public figures including Ian McKellen and Martin Freeman, who played Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins in the film adaptations of Tolkien’s fantasy novels, have come out in its support.

The website, projectnorthmoor.org, says, “We hope one day to invite Tolkien fans the world over to take part in our programme of events,” says the website.

The controversy

Project Northmoor however is not backed by the Tolkien estate. Members of the public have also raised over some of the conditions put forth by the organisers for donating the money. As the debate about the future of the iconic writer’s house continues, fans are keeping their fingers crossed.

Who was J.R.R. Tolkien?

Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He went to King Edward’s School in England, where he did remarkably well. From an early age, he showed exceptional linguistic skills. He mastered the staple languages of that time such as Latin and Greek along with ancient and classical languages such as Gothic and Finnish. But he was more than just a language enthusiast, he often made up languages in his leisure time. A few of his friends from King Edward’s School also formed a secret society T.C.B.S (Tea Club and Barrovian Society) and regularly came together to drink tea, write poetry and review each other’s work.

Popular works

Tolkien worked as an Assistant Lexicographer on the Oxford English Dictionary and later as a professor at the University of Leeds and Oxford. He often regaled his children with mythological stories and legends. One such story became the basis for the famous trilogy “The Hobbit”. The series soon developed into something much more than a children’s story. It turned into a highly complex 16-year history of what became “The Lord of the Rings”. It went on to become a cult classic.

Final years

In 1959, Edith and Tolkien retired and moved to Bournemouth. After retirement, Tolkien received literary fame. Frustrated by the constant public attention, he was forced to remove his phone number from the public directory. In 1961, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, but he did not win. He spent his final years in a seaside resort along with his wife. He lost Edith in the year 1971 after which he moved back to Oxford and after two short years there.

Inside Northmoor

  • Tolkien’s house on 20 Northmoor Road, Oxford in the U.K. was listed on the market on December, 2020 for nearly $6 million. Because of its connection to Tolkien, it is listed as a Grade 2 building, meaning it is of special interest.
  • Built in 1924, it was initially the residence of a popular Oxford bookseller Basil Blackwell, before it was bought by Tolkien, when was teaching at Oxford University.
  • The two-story structure is spread over 3,500 sq. ft with as many as six bedrooms, and four bathrooms. What makes it special is a drawing room, where Tolkien loved to write and meet with his students. A garden at the back of the house still some of the trees planted by Tolkien.
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Which are the books that will help you rediscover the Yuletide magic?

The true spirit of Christmas

Dr. Seuss’s children’s picture book, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is a holiday classic. The mean-spirited Grinch lives on the top of Mount Crumpit in Whoville. A six-year old Cindy Lou learns of the Grinch’s tragic past and nominates him to be the town’s “Holiday Cheermeister”. However, the celebrations turn sour as the Whos remind Grinch of his past humiliations. The Grinch concocts a plan to crush the Whos Christmas spirit by stealing all of their presents, decorations and food while they’re sleeping. He disguises himself as Santa Claus and dresses his dog Max as a reindeer, then descends into Whoville.

Ghosts of Christmas

Nothing quite says ‘Christmas’ like Charles Dickens mean old miser who hates everything associated with the cursed day. “A Christmas Carol” tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghostly visitations – the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.

The joy of letters

Every December, J.R.R. Tolkien’s children would receive a letter from Father Christmas. These letters shared Father Christmas’s experiences that year-from an accident-prone polar bear to goblin wars in caves beneath the house – and are riddled with life lessons. , Tolkien has compiled all these short stories into one book for you to enjoy with your children.

Being selfless

“A Gift of the Magi” is a short story by O. Henry about the personal sacrifices we are willing to make for the ones we love. The magi were wise men who brought gifts to baby Jesus.

Living in the moment

Published on December 21, 1844, “The Fir Tree” is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young fir tree so anxious to grow up that it forgets to truly appreciate the present.

 

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Which are the gripping stories set in the backdrop of surging waves, deadly storms and catastrophic eruptions?

A chilling account

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic “The long Winter,” gives a vivid account of one of the worst winters in the U.S. history. Told through the eyes of 13-year-old Laura, the story takes place in 1880-1881.

One of the major plot elements is the snow blockade that stops all train traffic to the town for months, cutting it off from supplies and bringing its people to near starvation. Meteorologists have verified the accuracy of Wilder’s account of the weather.

Story of the storm

The bestselling book that inspired the unforgettable film, Sebastian Junger’s “The Perfect Storm” tells the true story of the Andrea Gail – a fishing vessel manned by a crew of six, which disappeared in the middle of a raging storm off the coast of Nova Scotia on October 28, 1991. After one radio call to shore, notifying listeners of the impending storm, the ship was never heard from again: disappearing into the depths of the ocean and taking the crew members with it.

Waves of destruction

Lauren Tarshi’s “I Survived A Tsunami” tells a story about Ben, whose family is pulled apart and swept away in the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011. Ben has to find a way to survive one of the most epic disasters.

The devil and the deep sea

Yann Martel’s 16-year-old protagonist finds himself in this quandary when he is forced to share a lifeboat with a fierce Bengal tiger. Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel and his parents are on a sea voyage to Canada after selling their zoo in India when they run into a terrible storm that sinks their ship. Pi is the lone human survivor along with the tiger.

A deadly eruption

Mike Mullin’s “Ashfall” series follows 15-year-old Alex, who is home alone when the supervolcano under The Yellowstone-finally erupts. The Yellowstone that some scientists believe has been long overdue for an eruption.

With his house and neighbourhood destroyed, Alex embarks on a journey to search for his family and finds help in Darla, who he meets along the way. Together they find the strength and skills to survive and outlast the disaster.

Perils of global warming

“The Drowned World” is a 1962 science fiction novel by British writer J.G. Ballard. The novel depicts a post-apocalyptic future in which global warming has caused the majority of the Earth to become uninhabitable. The story follows a team of scientists researching ongoing environmental developments in a flooded, abandoned London. “The Drowned World” is also believed to be the founding text in the literary genre known as climate fiction.

The distinctiveness of Ballard’s fiction has given rise to the adjective “Ballardian”, defined by the Collins English Dictionary as resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in J.G. Ballard’s novels and stories.” His books usually examine the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments.

 

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What is the life story of Mark Twain?

Samuel Clemens regaled generations with some of the world’s greatest tales under the pseudonym Mark Twain. But did you know Twain ran for the office of the Governor of New York once? Well, at least in a fictional piece published shortly after the 1870 U.S. election.

Twain’s satire on U.S. politics, “Running for Governor which he wrote while travelling throughout the American West appeared as his monthly column for “Galaxy” magazine and in the local “Buffalo Express” newspaper. Over a century later, the story has become a talking point in the light of the U.S. elections, which concluded on November 3.

Getting Political

“Running for Governor” gives an imaginative account of Twain’s nun for governor against actual incumbents Stewart L Woodford and John T. Hoffman in 1870. Twain, who innocently believes that “good character would suffice to win against his opponents learns about the rampant corruption, lies and character assassination in politics.

Life on the Mississippi

Growing up in the southern town of Missouri on the banks of the Mississippi, Twain loved role playing as a steamboat crew. He dreamed of becoming a professional steamboat pilot and acquired his pilot licence in 1859. He piloted his own boat for two years before the Civil War stopped steamboat traffic. He gave up the job after a while to pursue other occupations that eventually led him to writing.

Never say never

Though Twain died on April 21. 1910, his adventures continue to delight us. Around 107 years after his death. The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine was published in 2017. Twain had jotted down bits and pieces of this story nearly 30 years before his demise. The handwritten notes were discovered at the Bancroft Library in Berkeley, by Dr John Bird, a Mark Twain scholar and professor at Winthrop University.

Did you know?

  • The term “Mark Twain” was a boatman’s call noting that the river was only two fathoms deep, the minimum depth for safe navigation.
  • His shirts were an invention of his own. They opened in the back, and were buttoned there.
  • Twain’s stories about Tom Sawyer have brought fame to the Hannibal region. In September 2019, Twain’s signature was found on the walls of the cave named after him, which figured prominently in his book, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

 

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What is important in book “The Boy in The Dark Hole”?

From academics and parental expectations to extra-curricular activities and peer pressure, children today are under a lot of stress and anxiety. Released on the occasion of World Mental Health Day in October, Mumbai-based Vaishali Shroff’s new book, “The Boy In The Dark Hole” addresses this important theme.

The book tells the sweet story of a 10-year-old boy who struggles with the burden of parental expectations. The protagonist, mysteriously named SP (you will discover the reason behind it as the story unfurls), gets a discarded cardboard tube from his mother. Sitting in a dark room, SP peers into the darkness of the tube and is reminded of all the times when he experienced negative emotions such as sadness, anger, frustration or irritation. The dark hole is a metaphor of his mental state. Imagining himself to be falling through it, he keeps wondering if there is any end at all to the dark hole.

Shroff believes that in today’s scenario, there is a need to raise awareness about the mental health of children. “This book intends to make children get in touch with their emotions.” Shroff tells “The Hindu in School”. “It teaches children how to go from your dark place to your happy place.”

Caught in the deep throes of depression, SP’s friends Lobo and Kuhu help him see the light at the end of the tunnel. Usually in books, the protagonists are the heroes – but what I wanted to tell through this book is that there are many children who are not equipped to be those heroes. Not everybody is like a knight in shining armour. Sometimes, they themselves need help. So this book is about not being afraid to seek help from others when you actually need it,” she says.

Understanding children’s mental health has become pertinent during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, adds Shroff. “In this lockdown, it’s been ten months since most children have met their school friends. So this book also tells children that you need to check on your friends and ensure that they are doing good mentally.” she says.

Did you know?

  • Shroff runs a children’s storytelling club. Started in 2009 in Pune, the club functions in Mumbai as well and during the coronavirus pandemic it has been meeting regularly online.
  • Shroff made a foray into writing through poetry. Her first poem was published during the 1993 Mumbai riots. The fan mails and appreciation she received encouraged her to write more.
  • Her stories are inspired by real-life experiences and tackle complex topics. Her second book “The Missing Bat” by Pratham Books is based on her travels in Kashmir. “Ari” is about an introverted, shy boy. “The Strange Case of Nayantara” is about consent.
  • Her latest, ‘The Boy in the Dark Hole”, has been illustrated by Samidha Gunjal. Her beautiful illustrations bring the story to life and help us empathise with SP’s struggle.

Author bio

Vaishali Shroff is an award-winning children’s author and columnist based in Mumbai. A prolific author, she has written more than 200 stories, both fiction and non-fiction. She likes to write stories about subjects that are challenging and pertinent, and that serve as icebreakers during difficult conversations. Some of her popular books are “The Adventures of Padma and the Blue Dinosaur”, “The Missing Bat”, “The Strange Case of Nayantara”, “Raindrops” and “Ari”.

 

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Why is ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ so popular?

It’s been 35 years since Bill Watterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes” first debuted in the newspapers. Known as the last great newspaper comic strip”, it ran between November 18, 1985 and December 31, 1995.

What it’s about

“Calvin and Hobbes” follows the amusing adventures of Calvin, an adventurous six year-old: and Hobbes, his cynical stuffed tiger. Set in the suburban U.S., the strip depicts Calvin’s frequent flights of fancy and friendship with Hobbes. To Calvin, Hobbes is a living anthropomorphic tiger, while all the other characters see Hobbes as an inanimate stuffed toy. The series explores contemporary issues such as environmentalism, education, and philosophical quandaries.

Who was Bill Watterson?

William Boyd Watterson started drawing cartoons from the age of eight. An introvert, he preferred to spend time alone in his room drawing Charles Schults “Peanuts” comics inspired him to become a professional cartoonist. When he was in Class V, Watterson wrote a letter to Schulz. To Watterson’s surprise, Schulz responded! This greatly encouraged Watterson. In school, Watterson honed his skills by creating high school-themed superhero comics and contributing cartoons and art to the school newspaper and yearbook.

Who were Calvin and Hobbes?

Calvin was named after the Protestant reformer John Calvin and Hobbes after the social philosopher Thomas Hobbes. Watterson decided to name his characters after these social reformers as a tribute to the Kenyon College’s political science department, from where he graduated.

Drawing from life

Watterson incorporated elements of his life, interests, beliefs, and values into his work. Like Calvin. Watterson too likes cycling. The personality and appearance of Hobbes is based on Watterson’s cat Sprite.

 Fun facts

Against merchandising

Watterson was against merchandising his comics because he felt it would compromise his creativity and cheapen his characters. For years, he fought against pressure from publishers to displaying “Calvin and Hobbes” images on commercially sold mugs, stickers, and T-shirts.

Recognition

Watterson was awarded the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award in both 1986 and 1988, Watterson’s second Reuben win made him the youngest cartoonist to be so honoured, and only the sixth person to win twice.

The End

Watterson stopped drawing “Calvin and Hobbes” at the end of 1995 with a short statement to newspaper editors and his readers that he felt he had achieved all he could in the medium. In the years since the comic strip discontinued, he led a secluded life and avoided contact with the media.

 

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Which is the acclaimed comic book series by Neil Gaiman will be adapted into a web series in 2021?

Bestselling author Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic series is set to be adapted into a Netflix series in 2021. The upcoming adaptation will take on a more modem approach to Gaiman’s best-selling graphic novel series, which ran for 75 issues from 1989 to 1996.

The fantasy series followed the adventures of Morpheus, or Dream, the Lord of the Dream World. The 11 episode series will focus on Morpheus after being imprisoned for 105 years as he sets out to restore order to his fallen kingdom and return to his realm.

Gaiman, who is co-creating the series, has been dropping hints on social media about what fans can look forward to in the series Gaiman will take on the role of co-creator for the series

Author bio

Hailed as the modem master of fairytales, Gaiman’s work spans across genres and formats. He has written novels, short stories, non-fiction, graphic novels, comic books as well as audio theatre and films. His books appeal to adults and children alike.

“Sandman” begins

Gaiman started his career as a journalist reviewing books, before timing to writing full-time. One day while riding a train in London, he noticed a co passenger reading a comic by Alan Moore. The quirky style sparked his interest in comics and he started writing “Sandman” comics.

Popular works

 “Coraline”: Published in 2002, this dark fantasy children’s novella by Neil Gaiman is popular with children and adults alike. It traces the journey of the protagonist and the many adventures that are thrown up once she moves into a new flat.

“Good Omens”: Written with acclaimed author Terry Pratchett, Good Omens is a comedy about the birth of Satan and the nearing of the end times. The apocalypse is near and so is the day of judgement. It is a delight to read the way things unfold thereafter.

“The Graveyard Book”: The novel traces the story of a boy who was raised by ghosts and vampires. It is up to the protagonist to gather the meaning of life living among the dead.

 

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Who is Meenakshi Gautam Chaturvedi?

With lives getting busier and attention spans getting shorter long meandering fiction is a luxury few can afford. This has increased the popularity of microfiction. Stories written with extremely short word counts, often as little as 50 words, “Microfiction is here to stay.” Meenakshi Gautam Chaturvedi, an internationally acclaimed author tells The Hindu In School.

Based in Mumbai, Chaturvedi writes across genres. Her new book The Moon Cake” is a read aloud picture book, a vividly illustrated fairy tale which introduces children to nature besides kindling their curiosity to ask questions. Chaturvedi is also the author of “The Runaway Moon”, “The Corporate Jungle Book”, “Tales from Bushland”, and Tales of Phoolpur.”

A graduate in Zoology from the Institute of Science, Nagpur, she won a University Grants Commission Junior Research Fellowship and took up research for two years, but she wanted to do more than just dissect animals. While in college, she wrote her first piece of fiction, which was published in a local newspaper. She relocated to Mumbai and began her copywriting career with Lintas.

Having written across varied media from television commercials and radio to novels, Chaturvedi considers microfiction to be the future of children’s literature.

In a candid chat the author talks about her love for writing and the rise of microfiction.

How did you get your start in writing? Were you a bookworm in school?

I guess I was born to write, only I discovered it much later. I remember reading up anything and everything that I could find including the writing on paper bags. When I was a child, I saw the “Adventures of Peter Pan” (by J.M Bamie) displayed in a showcase at a bookstore in Kashmir. I was in Class III. When my parents refused to buy it. I remember throwing a tantrum something I rarely did as a child. in school, I was a total bookworm. I would walk across from one end of the school to the other to spend the mid morning breaks in the library. I would finish reading all my English course books as soon as I got my hands on them.

However, coming from a family of doctors. (my great grandfather was a Rai Bahadur, a civil surgeon) I was supposed to opt for science and I did. Even won a UGC fellowship and spent two years on research. Later following my heart. I took up writing women’s and children’s fiction and started my professional career as a copywriter with Lintas. But continued to write on my Commutes to work.

What is microfiction? Is microfiction the future of literature, especially with attention spans shrinking?

To cut a long story short microfiction comes straight to the point giving the essence of the story or a life-changing experience. Microfiction is here to stay. As lives get busier and people are pressed for time, long meandering fiction is a luxury few can afford. So yes, microfiction is the future.

You write across multiple genres. Why did you choose to write microfiction?

In my early years of writing. I was always in a hurry to reach the conclusion of a story. So microfiction suited me best. It was much later that I began writing novels. However, literary microfiction is only one aspect of my writing. I mostly switch genres to overcome writers block. I feel I haven’t lived the day if I don’t write.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is sure to have far reaching effects on the human mind and behaviour. Has it affected the way you write?

I think authors are one of the few people who have been least affected by the pandemic Since writers are anyway used to staying indoors and writing, the lockdown didn’t make much of a difference to us. I am addicted to writing and I can write anytime, anywhere. I once came up with an idea for a story when I was in the Intensive Care Unit for dengue. In semi-conscious state, I heard the doctor say that my dengue could lead to a haemorrhage, but I was busy thinking about how terrorism is like young blood going into wrong places. The moment I was shifted to the ward I asked for my laptop and started writing

What are you working on currently?

After “The Moon Cake: A Fairy Tale”. I am currently working on another picture book titled “Corona and the Little Girl and I am planning to work on a graphic novel next.

 

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Which are some spine-tingling reads and memorable spook-tacular characters from fiction?

Ready for some Goosebumps?

RL Stine published more than 62 books in the eerily bizarre “Goosebumps” series. The stories follow child characters, who find themselves in scary situations, usually involving monsters and other supernatural elements. Each book is creepier than the next. Young adults can also follow the “Fear Street” series in which spine-chilling events unfold in Shadyside.

Dementors

The guards of Azkaban, dementors are among the most fearsome among creatures in the “Harry Potter series. They are able to drain all the happy memories out of a person, and even suck out the soul through their kiss And the only way to drive away these ghastly creatures is by producing a strong patronus.

Coraline

Neil Gaiman’s dark fantasy novel “Caroline”, will leave you spooked. A young, inquisitive girl when exploring her new apartment, Coraline discovers a tiny door that contains an alternate universe in which her parents and her life are exactly as she wants them to be – besides the buttons they have sewn into their eyes. It was adapted into an animated film in 2009 by Henny Selick.

Ghosts from the past

“Ghosts don’t require passports. They can turn up without papers in the most unexpected places,” reads the book jacket of Ruskin Bond’s “Ghost Stories from the Raj.” And indeed, Bond has found ghosts from as far back as the British Raj! Bond’s interest in the supernatural led him to collect ghost stories from different parts of the world, This book contains 19 short stories written by British officials and travellers during the 19th and 20th Centuries. It even includes tales by Rudyard Kipling.

Pennywise the dancing clown

Do you have a fear of clowns? Then you must read Stephen King’s “IT”- a cult classic. The story follows seven children who fight the evil entity that exploits the fears of its victims to disguise itself while hunting its prey. Other hair-raising stories from the horror meister are “Pet Semetary” “The Shining”, “Children of the Corn” and “Salem’s Lot”.

 

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What is special in Amazon’s new prequel series “The Lord of the Rings”?

Get ready to return to Middle-earth – the fictional setting of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium. Amazon Studies is coming up with a new prequel series set thousands of year before the events of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’. One of the most expensive television shows in history, it  will be based on Tolkien’s seminal series that regaled generations with books and later through Peter jackson’s iconic film adaptations. The billion-dollar project hopes to fill in the shoes of these giants by bringing to life new storylines around the franchise.

Orcs, trolls and wargs will return, but the series will not feature our beloved hobbits nor their faithful friends.

Instead, it will focus on the Second Age of the Middle-earth, much before Bilbo and Frado. The prequel is expected to chronicle the forging of the rings, Sauron’s rise to power and the destruction of Numenor, all of which occur during that era.

Here’s how the saga will continue….

The Second Age

There are four ages in Tolkien’s works. The new prequel series will take place in the Second Age, preceding “the Lord of the Ring” and “The Hobbit”, which were set in the Third Age.

Going to the source

Thought Tolkien’s did not write prequel series, he has written copiously about the history of Middle-earth, the world where the franchise is set. And the new prequel will use it as the source material.

Sticking to the canon

Part of the deal with Amazon includes a rider by the Tolkien estate to veto over any content in the series that doesn’t correspond with the author’s vision for the saga. The Tolkien estate retains the rights for the First and Third Ages.

No rangers and hobbits

Fans looking forward to seeing a young Aragorn, the dashing Ranger of the North, will be disappointed. The  King of Gondor, who played a major role in the ‘The Lord of the Rings” trilogy wasn’t born till the Third Age. It will also not feature hobbits.

The rise and fall of Numenor

Amazon released interactive maps of Middle-earth at the time when the series is set. They show Numenor, a mythical island akin to Atlantis. The island was home to the Dunedain, a race of man, some of whom fled before its destruction and established the kingdoms of Amor and Gondor.

Did you Know?

How Amazon upped the ante

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was personally involved in acquiring the rights to Tolkien’s series. After a bidding war with Netflix in 2017, Amazon finally obtained the rights for $250 million, making it perhaps the most expensive show in television history. The deal included a commitment for five seasons and a potential spin-off series. The collective budget amounts to more that $1 billion.

Previous adaptations

Warner Bros and its sister studio New Line have already made Peter Jackson-directed, “The Lord of the Rings” and its prequel “Hobbit” films, even though the latter trilogy was not as much liked by critics as the former.

About Tolkien

Hohn Ronals Reuel Tolkien was English writer and poet best known for his “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” series. A philologist, he loved making up new languages. Tolkien coined over 15 Elvish languages for his  “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” series Among them two enough words and grammar to be considered functional. Tolkien died on September 2, 1973.

The Fellowship:

The first two episodes will be directed by J.A. Bayona of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” fame. Actor Robert Aramayo, who played Eddard Starck in “Game of Thrones” will be the young hero of the series. His character is named Beldor. Morfydd Clark will play a young version of Galadriel, the royal Elf of both Noldor and Teleri. What’s more, Peter Jackson might also be involved in the series.

 

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What are the interesting facts about Dan Brown’s Wild Symphony?

When Dan Brown was growing up, his parents decided not to keep a television in the house. So he spent his childhood playing the piano, reading and solving puzzles. He started writing piano pieces when he was five, and aspired to become a musician before turning to writing. Brown’s first children’s book “Wild Symphony”, which released in September, is a combination of his love for music and his passion for storytelling and mysteries.

What’s the book about?

“Wild Symphony” is about a musical conductor-it’s a mouse named Maestro. At the beginning of the book, you learn that Maestro mouse is preparing to put on a musical concert with a motley team of wild animals from blue whales and kangaroos to ostriches and cheetahs. Each animal has a special secret, and readers have to guess what it is by decoding the jumbled letters hidden throughout the stunning illustrations in the book.

Accompanied by music

Scanning the QR code given in the book will lead you to a free, augmented reality app. You can listen to music by pointing your phone camera towards each page. The music has been composed by Brown himself. Each animal is accompanied by a musical score, which reflects its special personality – whether it is upbeat and fun like bouncing kangaroos or quirky like the buzzing bees. All the 21 musical pieces are performed by the Zagreb Festival Orchestra, Croatia.

Life lessons

In addition to playing a musical instrument, the animals offer a valuable life lesson to the readers don’t be afraid to be yourself and failure is a stepping stone towards success. This interactive musical picture book is a delight for the eyes and ears!

Did you know?

Like Brown, many famous authors have dabbled in children’s books. Here are some examples:

  • Salman Rushdie – “Haroun and The Sea of Other Stories
  • Ernest Hemingway-“The Faithful Bull”
  • Gertrude Stein – “The World Is Round”
  • Margaret Atwood – “Up In The Tree
  • James Joyce – “The Cat And The Devil”

 

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What are the impacts of COVID-19 on the English language?

Self-isolation, quarantine, work from home and social distancing have become the new normal due to the coronavirus pandemic. The global health scare and the unforeseen circumstances it presented have been a completely new experience for everyone. It has altered not just the way we live but also our vocabulary.

In a very short period of time, words such as COVID-19, a shortening of coronavirus disease 2019, sanitization and social distancing came to dominate our conservations. Some of these words are new coinages and others, previously less-known.

Noticing this, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the world’s biggest English language dictionary, updated its record of English language in April to include COVID-19 and terms related to it.

The April update was a rare move as the OED usually updates its record only four times a year.

Did you know?

Previous pandemics have also given rise to new vocabulary. Words such as “pestilence” a fatal epidemic or disease – came into use after the bubonic plague swept Europe between 1347 and 1351.

The adjective “self-quarantined” was first used in 1878 to describe the actions of the villagers of Eyam in the 17th Century, who isolated themselves to prevent the second wave of “Black Death” from spreading to surrounding villages.

Some others words that were added to the dictionary during the pandemic:

Social distancing

Social distancing was originally an attitude rather than a physical term. Now we all understand it as keeping a physical distance between ourselves and others to avoid infection.

Self-isolation

Self-imposed isolation to prevent catching or transmitting an infectious disease has become a popular term. But back in the 1800s, the term referred to countries that chose to detach themselves politically and economically from the rest of the world.

WFH

“Working (or work) from home, wither as a regular or permanent alternative to office work or on an occasional or temporary basis.”

Elbow bump

A gesture (usually of greeting or farewell) in which two people lightly tap their elbows together as an alternative to a handshake or embrace, in order to reduce the risk of spreading or catching an infectious disease.

PPE

Personal protection equipment is designed to provide the wearer or user protection against hazardous substances or environments, or to prevent transmission of infectious diseases. Formerly, the abbreviation was used only by healthcare and emergency professionals.

Infodemic

Infodemic (a portmanteau word from information and epidemic) is the outpouring of often unsubstantiated media and online information relating to a crisis.

 

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Which are the interesting books that have helped children in lockdown?

Lives of children around the world have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were suddenly forced to reckon with virtual classrooms. Social distancing norms have demanded that they stay home, away from friends, loved ones and playgrounds. And it is books that have helped them make sense of these difficult times.

J.K. Rowling

One of the first to announce a slew of initiatives for her readers was J.K. Rowling. The best-selling author started publishing her new children’s novel “Ickabog” in a serialised manner online. The initial chapters were free to read. What’s more, Rowling asked readers to send in their drawings of the Ickabog and acknowledged the best entries on her Twitter handle. Rowling even offered free access to the first book in the “Harry Potter” series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”.

Stephenie Meyer

Young adult readers too had something to cheer for. Stephenie Meyer released “Midnight Sun” – a companion book to the bestselling “Twilight” series. The book narrated the love story between Bella Swan and the vampire Edward Cullen for the first time from his point of view.

Jeff Kinney

Not to be left behind, Jeff Kinney, author of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, visited bookstores across the U.S. in August to hand out signed copies of his new book, “Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure”, in a safe, fun, socially distant way – via a custom-made 96-inch trident.

Oh really?

Numerous children’s books and picture books have been published over the last few months in response to the global health crisis. Freely available online, these books teach children about coronavirus, and encourage them to protect themselves and others.

Our top picks include “My Hero is You! How Kids Can Fight COVID-19”, which is based on a global survey on children and adults coping with the virus, and “From My Window”, a book by United Nations about the joys of being house-bound.

 

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What the country is reading during the pandemic?

Over the last six months, our lives became reminiscent of the plots from science fiction books. A deadly virus is wreaking havoc across the globe. Earlier, streets wore a deserted look, people hid behind masks. Washing, sanitizing, social distancing were the only weapons we could wield against it. Life appeared to have taken a leaf out of a thriller…with things getting stranger each passing day! As the fear of the virus gripped the world, readers turned to books on pandemics to make sense of the new normal. Many books written on pandemics began trending. Some of these books even accurately predicted the coronavirus pandemic and came into the spotlight.

Dean Kootnz turns soothsayer

In a 1981 crime-thriller novel titled “The Eyes of the Darkness”, suspense author Dean Koontz wrote about a virus called Wuhan-400, which the capability to wipe out an entire city or country. The bizarre coincidence sent waves of shocks across the globe and people began to draw parallels between the fictional and the real scenarios. People were quick to share the excerpt from the book online, which seemingly predicted the coronavirus almost 40 years ago.

Predictions and prophecies

Another book, Twitter users claimed, predicted the highly infectious coronavirus in the year 2008. It was a book titled “End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies about the End of the World” by author Sylvia Browne, who claimed to be a medium with psychic abilities.

Based on true events?

In 2011, a film about a deadly virus released in the theatres. It did not receive much attention at the box office and quietly faded from the screens. Nine years later, “Contagion” became one of the most searched and downloaded films. The reason? Its plot is eerily similar to the current coronavirus outbreak. The film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, is about a fictional virus outbreak that starts in Hong Kong. The virus called MEV-1 kills most people affected with it. The film seems all too familiar in the current scenario, as it also shows the impact of misinformation and myths that can be easily spread through technology.

 

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What makes Stephenie Meyer books so special?

The vampre saga continues…

Twelve years ago, a vampire captured the imagination of teens across the world. The story of the terrifying mythical creature – with a pale face and a chiseled jawline – falling in love with a human, won over hearts. Four books and five films later, the series has now received fresh blood.

A new comparison book to the “Twilight” series, “Midnight Sun” by Stephenie Meyer released in August and has already sold more than one million copies. Meyer has even announced plans for two more books in the vampire saga.

The rise of Stephenie Meyer

Like her famous counterpart J.K. Rowling, Meyer got the idea for her book all of a sudden. She was a struggling writer when she had a vivid dream – a boy and girl sitting in a meadow confessing that they were falling in love with each other. There was just one slight problem in this romantic tableau – the boy was a vampire and found the scent of her blood irresistible. Meyer remembered every glorious aspect of the dream and began penning it down so that it won’t slip away. Before she knew it, she had a complete book in her hands!

What’s the new book about?

Titled “Midnight Sun”, the new book is a prequel to “Twilight”. It recounts the story from Edward’s perspective, delving into his past. All the books in the series so far have been from Bella’s point of view. Meyer first announced the publications of Midnight Sun in May. 12 years after she abandoned the manuscript following an online leak of a draft. At the time, Meyer called the leak “a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being” and put the project on hold indefinitely.

The Twilight saga

The “Twilight” saga was an instant success with teens. The first book came out in 2005, closely followed by a film adaptation with a star cast – Robert Pattinson shone as Edward Cullen and Kirsten Stewart portrayed the clumsy Bella Swan. Though the series received a drubbing from the critics, the films caused a sensation at the box office. More books – “New Moon” (2006), “Eclipse” (2007) and “Breaking Dance” (2008) – followed suit.

Other vampires in fiction you must read:

Here are some famous vampire stories in literature.

  • “Dracula”: Bram Stoker’s sophisticated and mysterious Count Dracula remains timeless.
  • “The House of Night”: This 2007 series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast follows the adventures of a young vampyre Zoey Redbird.
  • “True Blood”: Charlene Harris’s vampire novels feature Sookie Stackhouse and her close encounters with the fanged creatures.

Oh really?

  • Meyer started writing the story backwards, starting from the meadow scene in chapter 13 and then writing chronologically till the beginning.
  • Meyer began writing “Midnight Sun” in 2008, but abandoned the project after half of the manuscript leaked online. She said it violated her right as an author and a human being.
  • Twilight fans are divided into two camps – those who prefer the vampire Edward and those who think that the werewolf Jacob is a better choice. Are you team Edward or team Jacob?

 

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How Deepa Agarwal creates her books?

Deepa Agarwal was born in the beautiful small town of Almora in Uttarakhand, and thanks to her book lover parents – her father, a doctor, and her mother, a school teacher, she became an avid reader. “My parents read to us regularly and provided us with a variety of books. I became such an avid reader that it was inevitable that I end up writing my favourite in school and I always entered any essay competition and often won prizes. I consider the authors that I admire my source of inspiration,” says the writer. She is one of India most prolific writers for the young, with 30 books in three decades of writing! Two of them have been out this year itself – “Blessed” and “Friendship Stories”. Let’s find out how she creates her books.

Writing tips for budding writers

Deepa Agarwal says that her mantra for good writing stems from a whole lot of reading! So, yes, read a lot. “The more you read, the better writer you will be,” she explains. Besides that, she also:

  • Maintain an ideas notebook. Some story idea but are not in position to write times you get a story idea but are not in a position to write it. Save your ideas to develop them  when you have time.
  • Keep a diary. As in sports and music, good writing needs a lot of practice. Keeping a diary means you are writing every day. Record incidents that made an impression on you and your emotional response to the. This could be valuable material in the future.
  • Remember that each story begins with a problem the main character has to solve. She/he will receive help from friends and face opposite from enemies. The attempts to solve this problem create the story.
  • “Where”, “when”, “who”, “why”, and “how”, are important questions in your story and you should provide this information of your readers.
  • The main characters need to be developed in debit to be credible. Show action rather than report it.
  • Dialogue should be natural to the characters.

When you have completed your story, revise, revise and revise!

And there’s not a moment to waste, seems to be the guiding philosophy for Deepa. “ I have two middle readers in the pipeline. One is a retold collection titled ‘Mahabharata Stories’ being published by HarperCollins India. The other, which will be out early next year, is a non-fiction, an account of the exploration of Tibet by legendary surveyor Nain Singh Rawat , titled ‘Journey to the Forbidden City’, to be published by Puffin.”

The writer’s routine

With a repertoire like that, Deepa Agarwal does have a disciplined writing routine. Most days she tries to settle down to her writing around 11.30 a.m., takes a short break for lunch and works for a couple more hours in the afternoon. “Many of my ideas come from real life – incidents that leave a mark or overheard conversations. Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of an opening sentence or a character. My recent nook ‘Blessed’ was sparked off by the image of girl disappearing into a hidden space. For longer works of fiction, I create a plot outline to stay on course, but for my short stories, I let the characters develop on their own and choose their actions. Poetry, of course, is usually spontaneous,” she reveals. That’s interesting don’t you think-having a different working style for different branches of writing?

Deepa Agarwal’s books

  • Three Days to Disaster
  • Anita and the Game of Shadows
  •  The Tricky Tales of Vikram and the Vetal
  • Caravan to Tibet
  • Folk Tales of Uttarakhand
  • Chandrakanta
  • Rani Lakshmibai
  • Write Right
  • Rajula and the Web of Danger
  • Ghost Stories Vol I
  • Chanakya, the Master of Statecraft
  • Spinning Yarns: The Best Children’s Stories from India
  • The Wish-fulfilling Cow and Other Classic Indian Tales
  • Go, Girl, Go!
  • 100 Great Poems for Children
  • Words to live By: The Best of Indian Non-fiction for Children
  • Listen, O King!: Five-and-Twenty Tales of Vikram and the Vetal
  • Best Stories from Around the World
  • Scholastic Book of Hindu Gods and Goddess
  • Sacked: Folktales You Can Carry Around
  • Blessed
  • Friendship Stories
  • A Capital Adventure
  • Everyday Tales
  • Traveller’s Ghost
  • The Hunt for the Miracle Herb
  • Ghosts Everywhere
  • The Hilltop Mystery
  • Not Just Girls!

Bet you didn’t know that though Deepa writes in English, she only began to speak English fluently at the age of seven when she went to boarding school.

Bet you didn’t know that (this may sound positively pre-historic, she confesses) she had never dialed a number on a telephone till she was 16! They lived in a very small town had no telephone at home.

 

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Should books be banned?

Why should banned books be marked with a week? And if they’re banned, should we read these books at all?

The cause

The website bannedbooks.org tell us that the banned books week is an annual event held celebrating the freedom to read – it highlights the value of free and open access to information.

Ever since books came into being, there have been challenges to the distribution and readership of some. In countries across the world, at one time or another, one book or many have been banned, criticised or challenged, generally for political or religious reasons.

Some books have been banned for a short period of time, the publication of others has been challenged in court, and in some cases, certain books are not allowed as reacting material in schools.

Why books?

Why books, you may wonder. After all, what harm can a mere book do? Books can influence people and the way they think. They can challenge popular beliefs. Or they could hurt the sentiments of a particular community. They could contain material that is not considered suitable to be read.

All these may sound like valid reasons, but if you take a look at some of the books that have banned or challenged in places around the globe, you may be surprised. For instance, did you know that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was banned? Surprising, isn’t it? It was prohibited in a US school in 1900, and later in a province in China.

Censored & challenged

The Catcher in the Rye, a book that now makes it to most recommended, reading lists, was one of the most censored books in schools in the US in the 1960s and 1970s. The Diary of Anne Frank anal Harry Potter are some of the other books that have got into trouble!

If all this sounds like it only happens abroad, think again! In our own country too, books have been banned -both in certain states, and in the country as a whole.

Don’t break the law!

So should we then be reading any of these books? As Long as you are not violating the laws of your country or any country you happen to be in, there are some good reasons to read books that have been criticised.

A book that has been banned years ago for instance, may seem completely tame to you! Remember, attitudes to Life and society are changing all the time. Something that was shocking 100 years ago, may seem completely normal now. And so, a book that was once controversial could give you an insight into cultural mores of the past and how they have evolved over time.

Sometimes, it’s hard to discuss certain topics – whether it’s with your parents, teachers or friends. Books that delve into subjects that are not often talked about – suck as sexuality or substance abuse – may allow you to think about these subjects and perhaps help you form opinions about them, or incite you to find out more.

Discover for yourself

There are some books of course that are definitely not appropriate for children – and you should always be guided by your parents, teachers and Librarians when it comes to this. But in other cases, wouldn’t you like to decide? After all, if it’s boring, you could always stop reading. And if it’s not, it gives you something to think about, doesn’t it?

 

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Who is Jane De Suza?

Now Lets start counting on our fingers. she is a management graduate from XLRI. She has been Creative Director with top advertising agencies. She has written for magazines across the world. She is currently co-building an app. And in the middle of all this, she Loves writing books! Meet Jane De Suza, the Singapore-based, multi-talented writer of the SuperZero series, Uncool, The Spy Who Lost Her Head and, the most recent, Flyaway Boy.

Stepping into writing

As an only child, growing up in the town of Jamshedpur, Jane made up stories constantly in her head and (believe it or not) in the margins of her textbooks! “That won me the Love of friends and the dismay of teachers. My parents had loads of books, and when I’d, read all mine, I started on theirs. And when I’d react theirs, 1 started writing my own,” she says, about her journey into the world of writing.

The Writer’s Routine

Jane admits that she isn’t the sort who can sit and churn out the daily 1000 words. ‘The churn shows,” she says, “it produces stoic, sludge writing. I’ve only ever started a book when the idea or character is unique enough to Leap out at me. And then the story writes itself. I start writing manically for hours at a stretch, oblivious to the pings from, either phone or pressure cooker.” She gets her first draft out in a fever, and Later rewrites it many more times.

Writing like Jane De Suza

Jane believes that ideas can strike at any moment. And that as a writer, you must always be prepared. So jot down these tips quickly!

Ideas are like sudden storms. Carry a pen and napkin (that you won’t blow your nose on Later and fling out). if a tune inspires you, hum it into your phone. If its an image of an upside down crow in a puddle, click the pic. Labels on bottles, lines from a book – write down anything you can build on Later.

* Start a chat with people – auto-drivers, hair dressers, grandparents, cobblers who are fixing your shoe. Walk around,. Eavesdrop. Put your phone away if you’re alone in a cafe or street, and look at people around. What’s the couple fighting about, you think? is it a boyfriend, brother, boyfriend’s brother? Aha,-story idea emerging, huh?

* Look at the world from someone else’s point of view. Argue against your own, beliefs. write from the perspective of a tree about to be cut down, or a dog with no home, or a man who cannot remember. * Write when completely alone. That’s why the best ideas hit in the loo. The only one I’d allow around, me while writing was Marco, my dog.

* I write best at night, when everyone’s asleep and, my imagination, has the world to romp around, in. I go back and edit in the mornings, in the clear Light of day.

* Talk to your characters, talk as your characters. Talk aloud. Make their conversations real.

* Write if you love to, not because you want to be rich, or famous. And don’t write a me-too book because someone else who wrote it, is now rich and famous. Find, your own voice (it may take months/years of rewrites). Write a story that no one else in the world, but you, can.

Jane De Stint’s books

For mid-school readers:

  • The SuperZero series: SuperZero, SuperZero and the Grumpy Ghosts , SuperZero and the Clone Crisis
  • Uncool
  • Flyaway Boy

For YA/adults:

  • The Spy Who Lost Her Head

Bet you didn’t know that

  • Jane cuts off heads and ears and, chins; relax, she takes terrible selfies!
  • Jane went through about 25 career options while growing up and still does!
  • Jane’s sense of humour often gets her into trouble!

 

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Who is Jeff Kinney?

‘Kin’ on adventures

Over a few weeks in August, Jeff Kinney, author of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, visited bookstores across the U.S. to hand out signed copies of his new book, “Rowley Jeff erson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure,” in a safe, fun, socially distant way – via a custom-made 96-inch, trident!

First published in 2007, the “Wimpy Kid” books have become widely popular among young readers, who have grown up devouring the adventures of the middle-school weakling Greg Heffley. A profile writer, Kinney comes up with at least one book every year.

Rowley is the hero

Originally slated to release in April, the “Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure” was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It finally hit the stands on August 4. The new book is the second in a spin off series that follows Greg’s gullibly sweet friend Rowley. In the latest adventure, Rowley attempts to write a fantasy story. Greg acts as a critic, agent and publicist for his friend, and tries his best to not stir any trouble – which, of course, means that he ends up making things worse.

Rowley’s story features Roland and his best friend, Garg the Barbarian, as they leave the safety of their village and embark on a quest to save Roland’s mum from the White Warlock. On their way, they encounter all kinds of creatures from Sherlock Holmes and mermaids to wizards and a centaur (though it is part cow, not horse.) All the trappings of a must-read!

Doodling for a living?

Right from childhood Kinney loved to draw, but he wasn’t very glad at it. So he developed his own drawing style with stick figures and bug-eyed characters. Using his surroundings as an inspiration, he created comics strips about the life around him. One such comic strip was “Igdoof”, which Kinney ran in his college newspaper at the University of Maryland. However his work looked too juvenile and so he never received any offers from big newspapers. In 1998, he came up with the idea for “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. Kinney worked on his book for almost eight years before showing it to a publisher.

Did you know?

  • The Heffleys are loosely based on Kinney’s own family. Like Greg, the author too felt caught between his four siblings- elder brother Rodrick, his sister, and his younger brother, Patrick while growing up. He draws heavily on these childhood memories to write about Greg’s family.
  • Greg’s younger brother, Mannu became associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, after videos and graffiti made by activists went viral on social media. He was chosen as an icon because he is familiar to Gen Z and easy to draw.
  • The series started off online on Funbrain.com in 2004 and made its print debut in April of 2007. There are now more than 200 million copies of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books available in 77 editions of 65 languages.
  • Kinney wrote the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” originally for adults. It was meant to be a reflection on what it was like to be in middle school. When he fund an editor who liked the manuscript, he was told that what he had written was more like a children’s series than a book for adults.

Oh really!

  • Kinney opened an independent bookstore called An Unlikely Story, in his adopted hometown, Plainville, Massachusetts in 2015. Throughout the lockdown, the bookstore has held online chats with famous authors like Stephenie Meyer, John Grishan and David Nicholls.
  • The 15th book, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid; The Deep End”, is set to launch in mid-October, and sees the Heffley family going on an RV vacation.

 

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Why old books crumble at the slightest touch?

Librarians all over the world are facing a problem. They have begun to realize that practically all the books that were printed after 1850 are deteriorating rapidly.

What’s the reason?

Before the Chinese invented paper in 105 A.D., books were written on parchment – the skin of sheep or goats and vellum or calf-skin.

The Chinese made paper from mulberry fibre, fish-nets, old rags and waste hemp.

After 1850, the demand for paper increased so much that a low-cost substitute for linen and cotton rags began to be used. This was wood pulp. The drawback is that during processing, a number of chemicals are added to the pulp. These include acids. Over a period of time, these chemicals and acids eat away the paper. It starts yellowing and crumbling to dust at the slightest touch. Thus, ironically, books printed in the 1500’s are in a better condition today than books printed just 40 years ago! Saving these books is a tedious and expensive process, requiring each page to be treated to remove the acid.

 

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What is the summary of Pashmina?

Nidhi Chanani was born in India and grew up in southern California. “Pashmina” is her attempt to connect with her roots. Priyanka Das, the protagonist, is full of questions. She wants to know why her mother left everything, including her father, in India all those years ago. But Priyanka’s mother is overprotective, and on the subject of India, her lips are forever sealed. So Priyanka is in the dark, until, one day, she stumbles upon a Pashmina scarf in an old suitcase. Wrapping it around herself, she imagines her mother’s birthplace and homeland in a series of vivid, colourful images. When she wins a cartoon contest, Priyanka buys herself a plane ticket to India with the prize money and begins her journey towards self-discovery.

Nidhi Chanani has illustrated the story herself. Though simple, the artwork is effective.

 

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What is the summary of the Prince and the Dressmaker?

This one breaks the Cinderella mould and has a cross-dressing prince take centre stage. A perfect foil to him is a poor dress designer with uncommon strength of character. The story begins in Paris where Sebastian, the crown prince of Belgium, is trying his best to hide a secret from everyone while his parents are busy looking for a bride for him. What’s his secret? By night, he dresses and behaves as the fashionable and alluring Lady Crystallia! Not because he is uncomfortable as a man but because it releases him from his royal trappings and allows him to experience complete freedom in an alternate identity. In Paris, he discovers Frances whose only passion in life is designing fashionable clothes. He promises her a decent pay and opportunities to create her own designs. Tempted, France accompanies him to Belgium as part of his staff. That’s when she learns about his secret. But she doesn’t care about it as long as she is given the freedom to design clothes. As the friendship between Sebastian and Frances deepens, they have to face tough questions. Can they go on living a lie? Frances decides that she cannot and leaves, Sebastian must choose between getting his best friend back and marrying a princess he does not know. The simple artwork adequately supports a delightful story.

 

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What is the summary of the Complete Maus?

A Pulitzer prize-winning story told in two volume, “Maus” – a tale within a tale – is about a cartoonist’s troubled relationship with his father. The father, Vladek Spiegelman, is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. As the son begins to tell his father’s story, he realizes that his struggles are nothing compared to the ones his father survived. The children of those who survived one of the goriest events in recent history are affected in their own way.

The artwork speaks more than words can. In clever allegory, Nazis are given the form of cats, the Jews are mice, the Polish, pigs and the Americans, dogs. “Maus” is not a comfortable read. It is a raw and powerful experience, where the author explores the fear of death as well as the euphoria of survival that was the everyday reality for those in Hitler’s camps.

 

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What is the summary of the Graveyard Book?

The Graveyard Book is a children’s fantasy novel written by Neil Gaiman and published in 2008. The story follows the young life of a boy called Nobody Owens who is orphaned as a toddler when a man kills his entire family. Nobody is adopted by ghosts from the local graveyard who raise him in a world of vampires, werewolves, mummies, and ghouls, and teach him to use a variety of supernatural abilities.

After his family is murdered in their beds, a toddler, pursued by the murderer Jack, wanders into a graveyard. Ghosts and other supernatural residents of the cemetery protect and eventually agree to raise him as their own. They name him Nobody Owens. With a vampire as his guardian, Nobody (Bod, to his friends) lives, loves and learns in the graveyard, which is full of adventure and dangers but the safest place for the 10-year-old. Outside the graveyard, Bod will be a target for Jack, the murderer.

A team of renowned artists lend their signature styles to each vignette in this award-winning two-volume story by Neil Gaiman.

 

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What is the summary of ‘The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet’?

No teenage girl, no matter how devoted her parents are to Shakespeare, deserves to be named, Hamlet. It’s so unfair. To their credit, her parents did consider naming her Ophelia, but desisted because they thought she was too tragic a character! Hamlet’s younger sister is Desdemona, a math and science prodigy at age seven, is in Hamlet’s grade 8 class. She was actually supposed to go to college but wasn’t allowed to pick a major because they had not taken art and music classes. The ultimate tragedy, however, is that whenever their parents visit them in school, they dress in 16th Century Elizabethan finery!

Hamlet Kennedy thought she had nothing in common with her weird family. But the perfect recitation of a Shakespearean, passage wins her the part of Puck in the school’s staging of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Through, the rehearsals and various other experiences involving her family and classmates, she realises she is every bit as special as her family is. She was struggling to ‘fit in’ when all she needed to do was be herself.

 

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Who is the author of book “Song of India”?

Reading a Ruskin Bond is very easy. All you need is a quiet corner, a comfortable chair and steaming cup of coffee. Ah, and don’t forget to wrap yourself in a cosy shawl or a blanket. Why? Because it can get chilly, up there in the mountains, where most of Bond’s stories unfold.

Set in the hills and valleys of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where he spent the most cherished moments of his childhood, Bond’s books give you a glimpse of life on the snow-covered and Deodar-dotted landscapes. Like the misty mountains, Bond’s stories unravel slowly, and leave a deep impression on your mind. Before you know it, Rusty, Binya, Uncle Ken and Rakesh Bond’s unforgettable characters – have become your companions.

Such is the magic of Bond, Ruskin Bond. Generations and generations have grown up reading his books – he has been writing for 70 years now – and yet the bespectacled, rosy-cheeked storyteller from the hills, never seems to run out of yarn.

And last month in July, the octogenarian marked his seventh decade in his literary career, the only way he knows how – by writing another book. This time a part of his memoir series.

Telling his story

Set in 1951, the illustrated book “Song of India” traces the beginning of Bond’s writing career. It follows a 16-year-old Bond as he leaves for England, where he found his calling as a writer and worked on his first book “The Room on the Rook”.

The fourth installment in his memoir series, “A Song of India”, continues Bond’s reflection on his life which began with “Looking for the Rainbow” (2017) and “Till the Clouds Roll By” (2017), “Coming Round the Mountain” was the third book in the series.

What makes his work – the memoirs as well as his other books – special is that Bond always leaves a piece of himself in his stories. And as we get familiar with his characters, we get to know the author himself. So here’s a look at some of the classic Bond characters over the years.

Meet Bond’s classic characters

In a career spanning over 70 years, Bond has written over 600 stories

  • Rusty: In “The Room on the Roof”, we meet the willful and rebellious Rusty, a character Bond partially based on himself.
  • Mehmood: The pride Mehmood takes in making his kites will make you fall in love with this character from the story “Kite Maker.”
  • Uncle Ken: A character based on Bond’s maternal uncle, his eccentricities and misadventures make him a complete laugh riot. And so the stories he appears in are also aptly named “Crazy Times with Uncle Ken” and “At Sea with Uncle Ken.”

Did you know?

  • Bond received €50 for his publication “The Room on the Roof”.
  • Some of Bond’s stories like “’The Blue Umbrella’ and ‘Susanna’s Seven Husbands” have been adopted to Bollywood films. The Hindi film J”unoon” is based on Bond’s historic novella “A Flight of Pigeons.”
  • His favourite and the first book he read in his childhood was Ali in Wonderland: And Other Tall Tales.
  • He wanted to be a tap dancer when he was young.
  • Some of his famous works are “School Days”, “Funny Side Up”, “Garland of Memories”, “Rusty – The Boy from Hills”, “The Room on the Roof”, “Landour Days – A Writer’s Journal”, “A Town Called Dehra”, and “Angry River”.
  • He was awarded the Sahitya Academy Award in 1992 for “Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra”, his novel in English. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014.

 

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Who is the author of book “Friends Behind Walls”?

During the recent coronavirus lockdown, friendships, were tested. Locked up in our homes, we couldn’t meet our friends for months. Daily chats, gossip sessions, and even birthdays moved online. Video calls and phone calls continued to strengthen the bonds. Friendship overcame the walls put up by the pandemic, and that’s exactly what author Harshikaa Udasi’s new book. “Friends Behind Walls” is all about.

Set in the sleepy town of Deolali, close to Nashik in Maharashtra, it is a story of two children, Inu and Putti who form an unlikely friendship despite the animosity between their families.

Putti, a city-bred boy, is excited to spend his summer vacation in Deolali. But he soon finds out that the town doesn’t have any kids of his age to play with, except Inu. But his parents forbid him from even talking to Inu because of a long-standing feud between their families.

Not wanting to give up on their newly formed friendship, the duo decide to solve the mystery behind their family feud. On their quest, they are helped by Mr. Om Namaha and Dr. Solanki. But Inu and Putti have to visit the fearsome Tekdichi Mhatari, who lives up the hill to find answers!

What inspired the book

When Udasi visited Deolali for the first time 15 years ago, she was struck by how deserted the place looked – there were no children to be seen anywhere. “There are many sanitariums in Deolali, so a lot of elderly people stay here because it is beautiful and green, but there were hardly any children,” says Udasi, who now has a second home in Deolali.

One day, she observed that a couple of children in her neighbourhood had actually made a hole in the wall between their houses so that they could talk to each other. “These two would use the hole to sneak into each other’s houses. And so I imagined what it would be like if the kids were doing this because the families were at loggerheads with each other,” says Udasi.

In fact, she had a similar experience when she was growing up. “There was a family which never got along with my family so I never got a chance to be friends with their kids,” she adds. “So I put the two concepts together and come up with the book.”

The message of bonhomie

“Friends Behind Walls” explores why its important to preserve the bond of friendship and not fight over trivial things. “Friendships born in childhood are really the biggest bond one can have,” says Udasi.

The book begins with a striking sentence, “There should be a big giant eraser for all our past wrongs.” Udasi credits her 10-year-old son Krishang for coming up with this line when they were having a discussion on the Citizenship Amendment Act. “I was talking to my son about the conflicts between different religions and ethnicities when he said that this is all so complicated, I wish there was a giant eraser for our past,” says Udasi.

Know the author

Harshikaa Udasi is a journalist and author from Mumbai. She forayed into children’s writing after spending 19 years in journalism. Her first children’s book “Kittu’s Very Mad Day”, published in July 2017, is the story of a 10-year-old physically challenged boy who is accidentally left behind by his family in Madhya Pradesh. He comes across a skate park and learns to skate and face his fears. It won the prestigious 2018 FICCI Publishing Award for Best English Children’s Book and was shortlisted for the MAMI Word to Screen 2017.

She also runs a reading club, “The Book Trotters” to encourage children to think creatively and independently. During the lockdown, the club meets online.

Popular works

“I Absolutely Totally Instantly Have to Have A Dog” and “Kittu’s Very Mad Day”. She has contributed short stories to “On Your Marks: The Book of Crazy Exam Stories” and “Flipped: Adventure Stories Gost Stories.”

 

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Which was the first children’s book?

Walk into any bookstore and you will find row upon rows of children’s books. From Beatrix Potter’s “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” to colourful pictures books by Quentin Blake, young readers today are spoilt for choice. But have you ever wondered who wrote the first children’s book? Or what it was about? Read on to find out…

“Orbis Pictus”

Author Jan Komensky, also known as John Amos Comenius, is widely regarded to have written the earliest known children’s book (considered to be the first at least in Europe and the U.S.). Titled “Orbis Sensualium Pictus”, it was one of the firs books aimed at children, unlike grammar handbooks and treatises meant for teachers. Focused on the visual element, the book is full of pictures, 150 to be exact, covering a range of things: animals, nature, the elements and religion.

When was it published?

It was first published in Latin and German in Nuremberg in 1658. Comenius, who was born in Northern Moravia (now in the Czech Republic), was a teacher who wanted to create a book that could be read by children of all ages. It was initially published in black and white; colour was added to later editions.

Did you know?

  • Comenius’ book was a hit across Europe and was translated into several other languages.
  • Despite the book being incredibly popular, few copies have survived. Many of these have won out pages because children returned to the pictures over and over again.
  • It opens with: “Come, boy, learn to be wise.” The student asks, “What does this meant, to be wise?” His teacher answers, “To understand rightly, to do rightly, and to speak out rightly all that are necessary.” (taken from an English translation of the book)
  • The Orbis Pictus Award established in 1989 recognised excellence in non-fiction writing for children.

What does the “Orbis Sensualium Pictus” mean?

The Latin title translates to ‘The Visible World’ or ‘The World Around Us in Pictures.’ Each picture has captions in Latin, and in the language of the country it was published in.

At the time, Latin was commonly taught in schools. It was the language used by the monarchy and the clergy across much of Europe. It was also the language that the Bible was in.

 

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Which is the second book in the Harry Potter series?

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the second novel in the Harry Potter series. The book was published in the United Kingdom on 2 July 1998 by Bloomsbury and later in the United States on 2 June 1999 by Scholastic Inc. Although Rowling says she found it difficult to finish the book, it won high praise and awards from critics, young readers, and the book industry, although some critics thought the story was perhaps too frightening for younger children. Much like with other novels in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets triggered religious debates; some religious authorities have condemned its use of magical themes, whereas others have praised its emphasis on self-sacrifice and the way one’s character is the result of one’s choices.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. It immediately took first place in UK bestseller lists, displacing popular authors such as John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Terry Pratchett and making Rowling the first author to win the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year for two years in succession. In June 1999, it went straight to the top of three US bestseller lists, including in The New York Times.

First edition printings had several errors, which were fixed in subsequent reprints. Initially, Dumbledore said Voldemort was the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin instead of his descendant. Gilderoy Lockhart’s book on werewolves is entitled Weekends with Werewolves at one point and Wanderings with Werewolves later in the book.

 

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What is a secondhand book?

A used book or secondhand book is a book which has been owned before by an owner other than the publisher or retailer, usually by an individual or library. Some new book shops also carry used books, and some used book shops also sell new books. Though the original authors or publishers will not benefit financially from the sale of a used book, it helps to keep old books in circulation. Sometimes very old, rare, first edition, antique, or simply out of print books can be found as used books in used book shops. A number of small towns have become centres for used book sellers, most notably Hay-on-Wye in South Wales. They act as a magnet for buyers, and are located in country areas of great scenic beauty.

Used bookstores (usually called “second-hand bookshops” in Great Britain) buy and sell used books and out-of-print books. A range of titles is available in used bookstores, including in print and out-of-print books. Book collectors tend to frequent used book stores. Used bookstores can range in size offering from several hundred to several hundred thousands of titles. They may be brick-and-mortar stores, internet-only stores, or a combination of both. A book town is a locale where numerous bookstores are located and serve as the town’s main attraction to tourists.

 

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Who wrote the book “Visible Speech” (1867)?

In 1867, Alexander Melville Bell published the book Visible Speech: The Science of Universal Alphabetics. This book contains information about the system of symbols he created that, when used to write words, indicated pronunciation so accurately, that it could even reflect regional accents. A person reading a piece of text handwritten in Melville Bell’s system of characters could accurately reproduce a sentence the way it would be spoken by someone with a foreign or regional accent. In his demonstrations, Melville Bell employed his son, Alexander Graham Bell to read from the visible speech transcript of the volunteer’s spoken words and would astound the audience by saying it back exactly as the volunteer had spoken it. Melville Bell’s system was effective at helping deaf people improve their pronunciation, but his son Graham Bell decided to improve upon his father’s invention by creating a system of writing that was even more accurate and employed the most advanced technology of the time.

Melville’s works on Visible Speech became highly notable, and were described by Édouard Séguin as being “…a greater invention than the telephone by his son, Alexander Graham Bell”. Melville saw numerous applications for his invention, including its worldwide use as a universal language. However, although heavily promoted at the Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf in Milan, Italy in 1880, after a period of a dozen years or so in which it was applied to the education of the deaf, Visible Speech was found to be more cumbersome, and thus a hindrance, to the teaching of speech to the deaf, compared to other methods, and eventually faded from use.

 

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What is the summary of Nyxia by Scott Reintgen?

Emmett Atwater is one of the 10 teens recruited by Babel Communications to participate in what is advertised as “the most serious space exploration”. It’s a very, very lucrative proposal: $50,000 a month for each participant – too tempting an offer for Emmett to refuse. With an aim to help out his family – including paying for his mother’s kidney transplant – Emmett signs on. He’s put on a mission to mine ‘nyxia’ or black gold, a valuable substance from planet Eden. Babel Communications is committed to finding the fittest survivor among those who have signed on, because life in Eden isn’t going to be bliss. They pit the participants against each other with brutal, grueling tasks to be done. Nyxia’s power is that it can be turned into anything. Emmett turns it into a facemask that can translate languages, thereby allowing him to communicate with the others. It’s through these interactions that Emmett discovers that the only thing common among all the participants is that they’re broken. Each is escaping a trauma too much to bear. The leader of his team is a girl named Morning. Emmett and Morning begin a friendship that demands that one of them be sacrifice. Who will it be?

 

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What is the summary of Dove Arising by Karen Bao?

Phaet (pronounced ‘fate’) Theta’s ancestors have moved to the Moon to escape the ill effects of climate change and the inhospitable living conditions on Earth. Life in the lunar colony is confined, regulated and controlled by an anonymous Committee and the Military. Phaet lives with her mother and siblings. Since her father’s death nine years ago, Phaet has withdrawn into a silence that she rarely breaks. She reacts to almost nothing, leaving people to wonder whether she feels anything at all. She’s most at home in the greenhouse where she works. She wants to become a bioengineer. Life goes on until her mother, a fearless journalist, is forcibly quarantined for ‘medical’ reasons. Suddenly, Phaet, whose name means ‘dove’, faces the tough task of protecting her siblings from the filthy environs of the Shelter. Intelligent and motivated, she begins working out with Cadet Wes Kappa. She forces herself out of her thoughts and starts to engage with the world outside. Will she be able to rescue her mother and overthrow the current regime?

 

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What is the summary of skyward by Brandon Sanderson?

Seventeen-year-old Spensa lives alongside other humans on planet called Detritus, which is in ruins thanks to constant attacks by aliens known as the Krell. Spensa dreams of becoming a pilot, a much-revered group of people dedicated to protecting Detritus. However, she’s haunted by her father’s reputation: He was a pilot who was branded a traitor and killed by his own team when he sought to abandon an intense battle with the Krell, Spensa, seen as nothing more than a coward’s daughter, is determined to not allow anything to stand between her and the flight academy. She gets a near-perfect score during the entrance examination – despite it being rigged against her – prompting her father’s former wingmate to agree to train her. During the course of her training, Spensa bonds with her classmates, practises and perfects fighting techniques, repairs a crashed spaceship that has a computer with artificial intelligence, goes to battle, loses some of her friends, tries to abandon battle, is branded a coward and grounded. Instead of wallowing in her defeat and misery, Spensa climbs back into her spaceship and travels into space and intercepts some sensitive communication of the Krell.

 

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Who is the author of the case of the candy bandit?

Archit Taneja was born in Bangalore, every different from the Bengaluru that we know of now. After living in different places throughout his childhood, he finally ended up again in Bengaluru for work. “One thing that hadn’t changed about the city, until very recently, was the big store for children’s clothes and toys. Men dressed in bizarre mascot costumes at the store traumatized me as a kid, and then as an adult. I think it finally shut down a few years ago. The memories still remain, but the closure helped,” says Archit, adding he is soon going to pen down his next – a young adult horror book based on this traumatic memory.

That’s Archit Taneja for you – building on experiences around him, bringing on humour by the tonnes, a scientific approach to case-solving and speaking in a tongue that has everyone from middle readers to young adults (YA) hooked. Wait. And gaming. Read him and you’ll know how important it is to his writing. He has the “Superlative Super Sleuths” series under his belt, featuring the super awesome duo Rachita and Aarti who solve cases involving candy bandits and careless aliens. The series is going to have author book by the year-end.

Archit says he started writing when he was 14 or 15, mainly to vent out the teenage angst that most kids have at that age. “It was mostly emo stuff and really terrible humor that I never dared to share with even those closet to me. Reading, strangely, didn’t inspire me to write. I recollect me and my likeminded friends pillaging through the horrible jokes section of books in the library, while our peers were busy either reading more serious stuff or doing other things that the popular kids did,” he says.

But once he was in his 20s and slightly more confident about himself, he shared a couple short stories with a few close friends, one of whom suggested he do a writing workshop with the publishing house Duckbill. He attended it on a whim, and ended up really enjoying it. The rest, as they say, is history. Or rather mystery, since Duckbill went on to publish the “Superlative Super Sleuths” series.

Writing like Archit Taneja

Archit has some great tips for young writers and he dishes them out in his trademark style:

  • Do not be discouraged if you feel your writing style doesn’t stand out or if you don’t have a fancy vocabulary. That is just one aspect to writing, and you can still tell a good story if you excel in other areas.
  • When it comes to writing, you should embrace you weird. What makes you unique is probably what will reflect the best when written down.
  • Children’s/YA books by Indian authors are still far from the limelight. Books by foreign authors still dominate Indian readers. We are still waiting for an Indian author who changes the landscape in this genre. You could be that author!
  • Writing something can require a lot of labour. There would generally be a driving force that makes you want to continue working on the project. It could be something that inspires you, something that you really enjoy and want to put into words. It’s possible that the driving force dies mid-way and you don’t feel like finishing the thing. For example, if you’re a massive fan of a television show, and the new director ruins the show by messing up the plot or changing the character’s personalities in the next season, you obviously don’t relate to the show anymore, and just hearing its name makes you cringe. At such a critical juncture, you should remind yourself that your fan fiction is its own entity now, and it is independent of external events, so you should not stop. Also, you’ve spent so much time on it already, it would be just stupid to stop now. This example can be extrapolated to other scenarios.

The writer’s routine

Archit says he is not sure if he has a consistent writing style. “If I’m feeling profound, which happens if I have just read or watched something profound, or stayed up beyond 2 a.m., I try to write more descriptively. Otherwise, I just end up telling the story in simple words. In whatever style I write, I attempt to achieve goofy or quirky humour, with possibly a scientific/technological bent to it,” he reveals.

Archit mostly ends up writing on weekends. “If I think of something interesting on a weekday, I end up taking notes on my phone to expand on them during the weekend. The writing happens in one- or two-hour bursts, interleaved with unhealthy food snacking and random video-watching on the phone. A lot of web browser tabs are opened to search on topics,” he says.

Bet you didn’t know that Archit is obsessed with the cartoon “Adventure Time”. At one point, he was the No. 1-ranked player in India in the “Adventure Time” section of a popular quiz app.

 

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What is the journey of publishing house karadi tales?

Recognition

At the Karadi Tales and Karadi Path offices in Chennai, the mood is ebullient ever since news came in that both – the publishing house and the education firm – have been shortlisted for three London Book Fair International Excellence Awards this year. The award, new in their sixth edition, is held by the London Book Fair in partnership with the UK Publishers Association. There is enough and more reason to celebrate. As many as 29 countries are represented in this year’s shortlist, and all three shortlists from India are from the Karadi Company. Karadi Tales has been shortlisted for Audio book Publisher of the Year, the other nominee being Penguin Random House, the U.S. Karadi Path has been shortlisted in two categories: the Education Initiative Award and the Educational Learning Resources Award. This is the second consecutive year Karadi Tales has been shortlisted for Audio book Publisher of the Year while Karadi Path is the only organisation shortlisted for awards in two categories.

Shobha Viswanath, co-founder and publishing director, Karadi Tales, says, “It goes saying we are delighted. We were very strong contenders, but to be shortlisted in three categories is very special.” For a company that started in 1996, the 24 years have been a roller-coaster ride. Karadi Path, the education arm of Karadi Tales, for instance, was envisaged in the year 2000 and research and development began almost immediately. The company formally came into force only a decade later. “It’s actually validation for a lot of things,” says C.P. Viswanath, co-founder of Karadi Path, adding, “That’s about two decades of work speaking.”

Filling a void

Shobha and Viswanath, along with the latter’s Brother Narayan Parsuram, founded Karadi Tales to fill the obvious lacuna in the children’s audio books space. “We were in Detroit (the U.S) when I used to take my son Kaushik to the nearest community library and get back audio books for him. He started reading by about two years. But when we came to India, we sadly saw no quality audio books available,” she says. Their son was five by then and the entrepreneurial bug had bitten them. “We thought of a music publishing house given that the entire family was so passionate about music. But the idea that finally took shape was of a publishing house for children’s books with a strong focus on audio books.” They got voices such as Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak, Tom Alter, Gulzar, Girish Karnad and more to join them, and soon Karadi’s became the most sought-after books and audio books around the country. The company was named Karadi Tales only in 2000 after the narrator became very popular; earlier it was named Sky music India.

Focus on learning

That very year, they also started exploring avenues to revolutionize English language learning. “We responded to a Dharavi-based NGO’s feedback and that helped us take the initial steps towards Karadi Path. They were using a lot of Karadi books to teach the English language and we realised the children were responding to the non-verbal drama in the story. When we went there to see how we could teach them English, we realised they already knew three or four languages. Nobody sat down and taught them these languages. Likewise, English can’t be really taught.” Karadi Path took the route of prediction and discovery to facilitate language and learning. “We realised that just like Artificial Intelligence, language learning depends heavily on these two principles.” The learning programme is running successfully in 3,500 schools across the south and the west of India.

While they are waiting eagerly for March 10 for the awards to be announced, there is a bigger party planned for the next year when they celebrate their silver jubilee. Plans are underway for newer products and delivery innovations for audio books. An app is being tested for launch next year. “It is good to go!” says Shobha viswanath.

The challenges

Asked about the challenges faced by independent children’s publishing houses in India, she says it is the lack of support. “Take parents’ awareness, government support, library support, price points, marketing, distribution… independent publishing houses are being hit everywhere. But the heartening thing is how established publishers are starting off children’s imprints. We need that right now.”

 

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What is special in The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen?

In this award-winning story of hope, Jessica Carlisle, a born runner, loses her leg in an accident that also kills her classmate. The doctor thinks that the young and athletic Jessica will make a complete recovery. But for Jessica, the loss of her identity as a runner is devastating. She spirals into depression, gets addicted to painkillers, and becomes resentful of her friends and family. Trying hard to cope with her handicap, she returns to school with her disability. People are kind but obviously awkward around her, not knowing whether or how to react to her disability. Her best friend Fiona never leaves her side. Her coach and track team really want her back. Rosa Brazzi, on a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy and with a razor-sharp mind, offers to help Jessica with Maths. The new friendship changes Jessica’s outlook to life. Soon, Jessica undergoes therapy and tries out a prosthetic leg. Slowly, she begins to walk and eventually, run in it. Soon, she is thinking of participating in the 10-mile River Run. But not alone. She wants Rosa with her. She wants to teach Rosa to love running the way Rosa taught her to love Maths. Together, they draw attention to differently abled people as people rather than their disability.

 

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What is special in Game by Walter Dean Myers?

Andrew (Drew) Lawson is an African-American who leads his high school basketball dreams. It’s his ticket to an admission in college because his grades aren’t great. Growing up in Harlem, one of the poorest and most dangerous suburbs of New York, exposes him to challenges and various bad influences. Drew, however, is focused and committed. His dream is to play in the college team and eventually be drafted into the NBA. This dream blurs when his coach begins favouring a new player recruited to the team and cuts out Drew’s playing time. How does Drew protect his dream and his future? Does he win the place he thinks he should?

 

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What is special in Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica?

Nate Brodie is called “Brady” because he’s every bit a star like his idol Tom Brady. Because he’s the most talented player in the team, his team relies on him to win games. But the 13-year-old is grappling with more problems than other kids his age. With a moody, distant and inaccessible father and a mother working two jobs just to put food on the table and keep their house, Nate feels insecure and lonely. Adding to his misery, his best friend Abby is slowly losing her eyesight. The only bright spot is Nate’s chance to win a million dollars for throwing a football through a target at one of the games. Will Nate, crack under pressure and lose his touch or will he make the money his family desperately needs?

 

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What is special in Tumbling by Caela Carter?

Every four years, 12 of the best female gymnasts from the U.S. compete with each other at the USA Gymnastics Women’s Olympic Trials. Those who win make it to the U.S. Olympic team. “Tumbling” follows Grace, Wilhelmina, Monica, Camille and Leigh over the two days of the trials. The story is told from the these five women who are at different stages in their careers. Some of them are veteran athletes while some others, seemingly from nowhere, are vying for Olympic glory. For Grace, gymnastics is her very life breath. But success eludes her. Every single time. On the contrary, for Leigh, her best friend, everything seems perfect both in gymnastics and in school. And perfect it will remain until her secret remains a secret. Camille is in gymnastics to please the people around her while Wilhelmina has a score to settle with her previous self. She would not allow what happened four years ago to repeat itself. And Monica? She is terrified because nobody believes in her. Which of these has what it takes to make it to the U.S. Olympic team?

 

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