5 FUN IDEAS FOR A CHILDREN’S BOOK CLUB Want to add some pizzazz to your child’s book club? Try these fun ideas: 1. Serve food: Nothing spices up a book club meeting like food—especially when it’s thematically tied with the book your reading. You can take your cooking cue from the book’s setting or historical time period. For example, if you’re reading Because of Winn Dixie serve up southern-style grits and biscuits. Reading the Chronicles of Narnia—bring on the Turkish Delight! And chocolate fondue is a perfect accompaniment for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. For younger readers, your book club menu can be inspired directly by the picture book you’re reading: Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola. Pizza at Sally’s by Monica Wellington The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by John Scieszka (Serve up some stinky cheese on crackers . . . if you dare!) 2. Watch the movie: While it’s hard to squeeze a novel into a 90-minute movie, it’s always interesting to see if a book’s transformation to screen matches up with the reader’s expectations. If the book your child’s book club is reading has been made into a movie, dim the lights and start the film rolling. Reading a book before watching the film, and then comparing the two, always provides for an interesting discussion. Here are some suggestions for books that are also on the silver screen: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl Hotel for Dogs by Lois Duncan Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh Coraline by Neil Gaiman Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine The Borrowers by Mary Norton Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White 3. Find a fun location for your book meeting. Reading the Magic Tree House books? Find a tree house to “house” your meeting! Reading a mystery? Take flashlights and pillows to an attic location and hunker down. Other fun and offbeat locations are parks, cafés, zoos, and backyard tents. A “secret” garden is the perfect spot for discussing A Secret Garden. 4. Invite a special guest: Consider inviting a guest speaker to your book club—someone who can share his experiences about the book’s topic. Reading a book about a ballerina? Invite someone from your dance community to share her insights. Reading a book set during World War II? Extend a special invitation to someone who lived through this time period. If your book takes place in foreign country, suggest inviting someone from that country to discuss what it was like growing up there. 5. Fill in the blank: A fun way to provoke a book discussion is with pre-printed questions for members to fill out and then share their answers. For a twist, pass around the answers (keeping names hidden) and ask members to guess who wrote the answers. Here are some suggestions to get started: My favourite character is_______________ Because_______________________. I am most like this character: _____________________ Because______________. If I wrote the book, I would have titled it __________________. If this book were made into a movie, I’d want to play the part of__________________. If this book had a sequel, this is what I think would happen: ____________________. On a scale from 1–10, I’d rate this book:_____________________. These are many ways to blow fresh air into your child’s book club. One of the easiest is visit an author’s website. Many author’s Web pages have links to book-related activities and downloadable worksheets or crafts. (So there’s no need for you to channel you inner Martha Stewart!) Thanks for visiting and reading this piece. We encourage you to support our project by sharing any written piece, articles or photos you deemed useful, with the general public and your friends.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 08:39:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015