We at The Book Leaf, Congratulate all ICSE (Class 10) students on passing the examinations.

Heartiest wishes are especially due to Rohan and Anushka, both Book Leafers for doing fantastically well !

A respectful salute to the parents (especially mothers in some cases) for being there for their kids through this time much beyond the call of parental duty…

If you know of any other students who have fared  well in these examinations, we will be glad to post their names too on our website.

Now looking forward to the CBSE, SSC and the Class XI results… All the best to all those awaiting their results.

Our wishes are with you for the results as well as for the journey ahead…

When you get hooked to a book, the second page makes you feel good that you picked it up! And who knows as you turn more leaves, what words, sentences, mystery, thoughts, romance, thrills, sadness, can spring forth in your life.

So with a heart full of happiness today we would like to thank our families, friends, well wishers, and all those who have been with us on this wonderful reading trip. Thank you for staying with us and we hope you continue to come in, sit, peruse, and enjoy yourselves at The Book Leaf. For those who stayed with us for a short stint, and have left us for various reasons, we hope you find the time one day to return or drop in and renew your love for something so precious – a book!

Thank You to all the Book Leafers out there!

The Summer Activities have been postponed until further notice! We regret the inconvenience caused.

Summer Activities Calendar

Package Deal for our Members Only:

1.  If participating in all – Amount is Rs. 900/-
2.  Young children participating in the Competition Events only-  Rs. 250/-

Call us: 9049369598

Email Us:  thebookleaf@gmail.com

Timings:

Weekdays:  11am -1.00 pm  & 5.30 – 8.30pm

Weekends: 10 am – 1.00 pm  & 5.30 – 8.30 pm

Thursday Closed

Madhatters,

Here is the link to the first part of the interview with Adeline Foo. We were unable to record it completely due to technical inability on my part Will train myself better for next time

http://youtu.be/Nf8f5OFNexM

A long due update on the Skype Interview with Adeline Foo!

Besides such wishful thinking, we also  keep increasing the number of books here though we keep deciding not too So you can look forward to new books this vacation! We are also planning a few selected exciting activities to add to the fun this summer. So keep checking this website for updates!

Dear Mad-hatters, Book-leafers and Well-wishers,

This is an invitation to all those who have read any of the Diaries of Amos Lee at The Book Leaf library.

Adeline Foo, the creator of Amos Lee will be available on Skype at The Book Leaf at 10.00 a.m. this Sunday, the 26th of February 2012.

The children who have read her books will be able to ask her questions and interact with her.

If you are interested in participating, please do confirm attendance by Saturday, 25 February 7.00 p.m.

Bookishly Yours,

Aletha and Sonia

The Creator of Amos Lee – Adeline Foo

The Book Leaf chooses Singaporean children’s author, mother and  screenwriter,  Adeline Foo as the “Writer in Focus”.

 Do you know?

• Adeline Foo is best known in India for her Diary of Amos Lee books.
• However, in Singapore and elsewhere in the world, she is best known for introducing Puteh, a Nonya (descendants of late 15th and 16th century Chinese immigrants to Singapore)
• She first published four books for children about Peranakan (also a term used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to Singapore)  life.
• Beaded Slippers, The Kitchen God, Chilli Padi and The Amulet were her first four books and all were very successful.
• She has written more than fifteen books!
• The Diary of Amos Lee: I Sit, I Write, I Flush! has won the International School Libraries Network’s Red Dot Award for Best Junior Book, 2010.
• Amos’s sister, Whoopie Lee, has a set of books all about her too!
• Amos Lee is being telecast on Singapore television!

One of my favourite poets’ of all times,
The one who started with The Golden Gate,
Yes, the master of words, the king of rhymes,
Is none other than Vikram Seth.

And last Friday, I spent nearly the whole day with him. In the picturesque tiny hill station of Panchgani. Oh! what a time I had. Pure pleasure. Unadulterated! And no, Vikram Seth didn’t know about it

I do not usually claim to be a fan (electric or otherwise!) of anyone. However, this author and poet has a permanent place in my heart and mind ever since I was in Class XI, 19 86 I think. Before I ever set my eyes on any book by him, I heard him being interviewed on the television and reciting bits of Golden Gate. I was hitched, hook, line and sinker. I don’t think I was able to get hold of a copy of Golden Gate for many years after considering the kind of places my father was posted to. I was deeply inspired anyway and remember writing a novel in verse that at some point, fed a fire I lit, angry with myself and the world for my ill health.

It’s amazing how much one can digress Anyway, in college I came across Beastly Tales, From Heaven Lake, All You Who Sleep Tonight and Suitable Boy. His writing lived up to my expectations in every way. I have to confess though that I like Jane Austen too, so reading the whole of Suitable Boy was not a tough task In fact one can identify with Vikram Seth’s writing a little more; especially as he presents our time, our culture, our language, our confusions, our successes, our defeats, our loves and our lives.

Coming back to the book I read in Panchgani last weekend – The Rivered Earth. The cover makes me think of Mahabaleshwar during the Monsoons. A cool feeling settled on me as soon as I took the book in my hands. But that nice shiver of expectant excitement was nothing compared to what I felt when I read the book.

Such a beautiful mix of prose and poetry. And I would say even wonderful music that one hears in one’s mind while reading the poetry and imagining it being performed in the beautiful locations by wonderful musicians on the piano and the violin.

One would think that if a poet wrote about his (or her) own poetry; how it was inspired, conceived and written, it would be a most boring piece of work and would make even the poetry lose its magic. But nothing like that happens when Vikram Seth explains to us and even discusses with his fellow artists (in an interview format), the composer Alec Roth and the violinist Philippe Honoré. In his interviews with them, the story of how the four libretti with each of the verses that make them took form, were set to music and then performed by the musicians in the beautiful setting of the churches and cathedrals of England; evolves and brings the poems to life when we read them with the music playing in our minds.

I don’t want to be quoting from the poetry as each one should discover that on their own. But I must add that we are fortunate in this day and age not only to have such libretti written, set to music and performed; not to mention published; but also to be able to get a sneak peak into the minds of the poet, the composer and the musician.

Like the poet says, “Seth wrote and Roth set”. I’d like to add to this:

Seth wrote and Roth set
Honoré on the violin bet
What a musical net
Better magic you’ll never get…

Madhatters meet this Sunday, 19 February 2012,   at 5.00 p.m.

to put down questions to Adeline Foo.

(Who’s that? – Don’t you know? Come and find out). 

We will also do a short workshop on the fine art (and grammar ) of questioning.