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start clubs for
  • grades 3-6
  • grades 7-12

see Discussion       Questions

Do some research. • Are there existing book clubs? • If there are no appropriate clubs start your own. Who is interested? Talk to early-schooling teachers, librarians, and other parents to find out who would be interested in starting a book club. Who will organize it? • You or other parents? If so, you will have more    control and flexibility. • Teachers? If so, it will be a school-sponsored    activity. • Librarian? If so, it will be an activity of your local    library. How do you get started? • Determine when and where to hold the first meeting. • Design and mail out fun invitations. • Plan on serving refreshments. • Ask everyone to come with a list of book ideas. How many should join? 6 to 10 are best. Too few make it sparse when some are absent; too many make it hard maintain order. Where will you hold future meetings? Homes? School? Library? The Y? A church? When will you meet? • Morning, afternoon, lunch? Weekdays or weekends? • Weekly? Bi-weekly? Monthly? • Pick a schedule and stick with it. How will you stay in touch? Put together a contact list: include emails, phone numbers, and home addresses. How will you structure meetings? This type of “book club” is more like a story-telling hour with a themed activity following the story: •   5-10 minutes for parents to discuss club business • 15-20 minutes to “read & lead” • 20-30 minutes for a themed activity What kind of books will you read? • Picture books • Themes: family relationships, friendship, pets and    animals, feelings • Sub-Genres: folktales, rhymes, fun adventure, and    humor How will you find books? • Librarians (school and public) • Early-schooling teachers • Book Award lists: Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal,    Parents’ Choice Awards; Boston Globe Horn Book    Awards; New York Public Library Notables • Publications and web sites: NY Times Book Review;    American Library Association, Reading Rockets How will you select your books? • Frequency   — select monthly   — every 2-3 months • Method   — vote from a list of recommendations   — rotate monthly so each parent and child can       choose a book. Should everyone buy the book? Choose one of two alternatives—decide in advance: • Only the reader has the book. • Each child has his own book to follow along It should be one or the other—either all members buy the books, or no one buys. It won’t work if some kids have copies while others don’t. Who will read & lead? • A librarian, teacher, or invited guest • One parent (agreed upon by others) reads & leads    all meetings • A different parent every a month • The parent who chooses the book • The parent who hosts the meeting How to read & lead Be sure to check out our Kids Discussion Questions for this age group (pre-K — Grade 2). You'll find them a big help. What kind of activities? Below are some terrific activities for your book club. For more ideas, see our 26 LitFun Ideas for Kids. • Sleep-over Bring a sleeping bag and watch a book-related movie • Field trip Head to a book-related place or event: a play, a movie, concert, museum, zoo, historical site, botanical garden, natural area, sport event, or county fair. • Club journal Design and decorate a book club journal: keep track of books, published reviews, club discussion points, likes and dislikes. Make a multi-year journal or a new one every year. • Personal journals Kids and parents can design their own reading journals. Fold and staple sheets of paper together like a book—or buy notebooks for all the kids. • Collage Use poster board, magazine clips, pieces of fabrics, other small gluable objects to create a poster-sized collage for each book you read. Display them all at the end of the year. • Art for the author Have the children make a collage of the book or a card for the author. Attach a note with a group photo and mail it to the publisher (who will forward it on to the author). Be sure to get a photo of all the kids holding the collage to include in your club journal.

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