Do you recall the great Saturday morning cartoons you watched as a child? If you're anything like me, you recall the sound effects much more vividly than what was on the screen. That's because I had my nose in a book. My daughter and her friends are quite the same. They can deal with a punishment of "no television for a week", but if you take away their books it's as if the world was coming to an end! In fact, I don't think I could possibly take away her books. She has several under her bed, between the mattress, under her pillow, in the laundry room, next to the couch, in the bathroom, in the back of the van, in the barn, and the list goes on and on. Her brothers are quickly picking up the same habits and I'm finding myself smiling as I think about the importance of books in our family.
I shouldn't have been at all surprised last evening, when my daughter and the eldest daughter of a dear friend devised a plan to create a book club for kids. The adults were wrapping up our book club meeting. We checked our calendars to schedule the next meeting, and the new books were distributed. This was just too much excitement for the young readers as they started talking about holding their own book club. They had plenty of ideas about how the meeting should be facilitated, what books should be considered, and who would be invited. What parent could say no when the girls politely asked if we might help them form their own book club for kids?
PBS has some great articles about how to start a book club, forming rules for the club, etc...so I'm not going to get into that. I would like to ask some questions and explore some ideas with you dear reader. What are your thoughts about book clubs for kids?
*Should the club be facilitated by a young member or by an adult?
*What type of rules are absolutely necessary?
*How often should the club meet?
*How do you chose the books? Is Harry Potter too long? Do you chose a book based on length?
*Are there any resources with questions like there are for adult clubs?
*If discussion questions are provided ahead of time, should an adult prepare them or one of the children?
*How many children should be included?
*Is this type of meeting best held in a library setting or a home?
*What question should be asked that I haven't thought of? What am I missing?
I really want this to be successful for the children. There are all sorts of ideas and questions running through my mind. I love having children who love reading and writing. Fostering their love is important as I know they will be heading up the adult book clubs in the future. A bad experience now may have a lasting impact. I sure would appreciate your thoughts and ideas. If you are a children's author and would like to provide book suggestions, feel free to leave those in the comments as well. Thank you in advance for your assistance! You're the best!
Crystal is a church musician, business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger as well as a dairy
farmer. She lives in Reedsville, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 8, Andre 7, Breccan 1, Delphine 5 months), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, and over 200 Holsteins. You can find Crystal and her children blogging and reviewing books and all sorts of other stuff at: http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/
3 comments:
I love the idea of a kids book club! I met Crystal and Carmen on my book tour for WOW a few weeks ago and Carmen is a lovely young lady who can certainly handle a meeting of her friends. Here are my quick thoughts (the gal with dogs not children!). I think meeting at a library would be ideal. Make the kids feel more like a special place and time. An adult should monitor what is going on and make suggestions if needed, but allow the kids to pick their own books and figure out questions. I would allow the members as much freedom to make it their own, but keep an adult onboard to be sure things are running smoothly. My guess is a library may like to have an adult present during the meetings, but maybe just on the edge so the kids feel they are doing their own thing. If there is a morning meeting, maybe lunch at a fun spot afterwards. LOVE the idea. I have an adult book club in metro Atlanta, but now I think it might be fun to try and do a children's book club, too. Plenty of my friends have grand kids. Good lucky Crystal and Carmen!
I totally support this idea! I don't think enough is being done for children in reading advecacy in our local area. There needs to be more interaction with the thoughts and ideas of the child's imagination as well...to encourage that next artistic inspiration. Our children can be anything they want to be...the sky is the limit, and books are the catalyst for all creativity levels to bloom and grow!
As a sponsor of all artistry, I would enjoy taking this sort of interest to the next level...a book that turns into another form of art...an extension of what they feel and think from what they just read...a form of art therapy. Kids need to have outlets...and as the parent, we need to get more creative with our children. Reading promotes patience, and everyone could use more of that in this world!
Crystal,
You have to check out Book by Book by Cindy Hudson and her website http://motherdaughterbookclub.com/
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