The Hundred Dresses, November

This month we read The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. We had a good discussion about bullying, which was timely as October was Bullying Awareness month. This book was not their favorite -- it bothered them that the girls in the book were mean. However, they thought that it had an important message about bullying. They enjoyed the activity -- they got to use wallpaper samples to make their own dresses.

Hugo book club, September

This month we read "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick. This was different from any book we've read before, as much of the story is told with drawings. It's a big book! The girls all said that they were amazed (maybe intimidated?) by the size of the book when they first saw it. Now they are proud that they've read such a big book! It's a great story too -- all the girls said they would recommend it. We had planned to watch the movie "Hugo" together, but given limited time we decided we'll all watch it on our own time.

Here they are deep in conversation:

And here they are being silly:

Some old stuff

Here are a couple of photos from some of our first meetings. I believe the first picture was taken during our January book club when we read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. We all went together to the Sound of Music Singalong that night! The second photo is from the November meeting when we read Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

Number the Stars book club in August

We read Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It's a story about the Nazi occupation of Denmark during WWII, but mostly it's a story about friendship and bravery. The girls got to act out a new "last chapter" in which they imagined what it would have been like if Annemarie and Ellen and their families were reunited after the war.

Starry River of the Sky book club in May

Back in May, we read Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin. This is the second book we've read by this author; the first was Year of the Dog. The girls really liked this book and got to act out one of the scenes. Here they are with the symbol of power on their foreheads, to keep away the five poisons!

Review of "Harriet the Spy" by Louise Fitzhugh

All four kid book club members kind of recommend it. The moms had mixed feelings, but think it might be more appropriate for an older book club.

The girls had to say:

·      “Harriet writes mean things in her notebook sometimes. But she learns a good lesson – to be nicer to everybody and not be mean to her friends.”

·      “Harriet said mean things about Ole Golly’s mother.”

Here is a picture of the girls at book club. They each wrote a descriptive journal entry and got to read it out loud to the group. We tried to guess what they were describing. No one wrote anything mean, unlike Harriet!

 
Here we are working on our new blog:

Possible future books to read

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
Lily & Miss Liberty by Carla Stevens
The School Mouse by Dick King-Smith
Muggie Maggie by Beverly Cleary
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by E. Coerr
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Lost Children of the Far Islands by Emily Raabe
Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
Holes by Louis Sachar
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
The Great Squirrel Uprising by Dan Elish
The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Trumpet of the Swans by E. B. White

Resources

Books

·      100 Books for Girls to Grow On by Shireen Dodson – Has lots of book ideas for books which are appropriate for this age group and older. Includes ideas for activities and discussion questions.

·      The Mother Daughter Book Club by Shireen Dodson (this is more appropriate for pre-teen girls)

·      The New Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

·      Great Books About Things Kids Love by Kathleen Odean

Websites

·      Link to a website about open ended questions: https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/open-ended-questions

·      How to use open-ended questions with children: http://storiesandchildren.com/open-ended-questions/

·      Reading Maniacs book club, includes list of books in the order they’ve read them over the years: http://www.kidsfirstsoccer.com/bookclub.html