In the run-up to The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Awards 2017, we invite students to team with a teacher and review one or more of the books mentioned below. Reviews must be original and not exceed 400 words. Mail us at school@thehindu.co.in and mention the subject as BOOK REVIEW. Include your name, your teacher’s name, class, school, city and telephone number.
LIST OF BOOKS
1. THE SHERLOCK HOLMES CONNECTION by Martin Widmark, Anushka Ravishankar, Katarina Genar, Bikram Ghosh
2. TWEENACHE IN THE TIME OF HASHTAGS by Judy Balan
3. LEOPARD IN THE LABORATORY by Anjana Basu
4. GANGAMMA'S GHARIAL by Shalini Srinivasan
5. YOUR TURN NOW 2 by Lubaina Bandukwala
6. CRICKET FOR CROCODILE by Ruskin Bond
7. AYESHA AND THE FIREFISH by Ajay Chowdhury
8. CARING FOR NATURE: THE FORESTS BELONGS TO US by Subhadra Sen Gupta
9. BRAHMAPUTRA DIARY by Shahidul Alam
10. AROUND THE WORLD WITH A CHILLI by Nayan Chanda
HOW TO GO ABOUT IT
Pick one or more books from the list. Discuss it with a teacher from your school and find out if she/he will help you understand and review the book. Get a copy of the book and write the review as a two-member team. Reviews MUST be original and not copied from the Net. Reviews must not exceed 400 words. Mail us your reviews before October 18. The best reviews will be published in The Hindu In School along with the photograph of the teacher-student team.
REVIEW GUIDELINES
Your review should include a brief recap of the story/content, its theme, its characters, its writing and illustrative styles, and what makes the book interesting or not. So make notes on these points as you read the book.
Some tips:
a) Give a story/content summary without giving away the surprises/twists in the plot.
b) Describe the theme of the book.
c) Discuss the characters – what is special about them, are they stereotypical, are they believable?
d) Discuss the author’s writing style and appeal. Is the language used age appropriate?
e) Describe how the book has been illustrated. Do the pictures capture the mood of the story? Comment on the book's format and how it looks.
f) Make your final remarks on the book based on the analysis presented.
BACKGROUNDER
The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Awards, the first Indian award to promote excellence in Indian children’s writing and acknowledge innovative publishing trends, was launched in 2016. The Student Review initiative is meant to encourage school-goers to read contemporary writings and critique them. This is the first set of ten books. A fresh list of books for reviewing will be published every month.
