Comments on: The Kids’ Book Club Book: Reading Ideas, Recipes, Activities, and Smart Tips for Organizing Terrific Kids’ Book Clubs

By: Lorel Shea

Lorel Shea — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:13:35 +0000

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Over 400 pages- everything you need to know!, October 27, 2008

Lorel Shea (New England) -

This review is from: The Kids' Book Club Book: Reading Ideas, Recipes, Activities, and Smart Tips for Organizing Terrific Kids' Book Clubs (Paperback)

"The Kid's Book Club Book" is a fantastic resource that includes reading ideas, recipes, activities, and tips for organizing book clubs for children. It was written by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, who also coauthored "The Book Club Cookbook". If you've thought about starting a book club, but you feel it's too much work or you don't have the time to plan activities, think again. This guide contains all that you need to get started, except the actual books!

The book is organized into two parts. Part One is all about logistics. The authors surveyed 500 book club facilitators from all over the country to gather input. Comments from these facilitators are sprinkled liberally throughout the book, and complement the text nicely. The authors first discuss different types of groups. You might want a coed group, or one devoted to boys or girls only. You might want to consider an intergenerational group, with parents as well as kids participating. Perhaps the group will be for a certain grade level only, or for a specific age range. Pros and cons of various types of groups are well covered. Also in chapter one, you will find information on where to meet, how to recruit members, when to schedule meetings (what time of day, and how often to meet), and how to obtain funding. Chapter two is all about choosing books for your group. Some clubs have members vote on selections, while others have assigned books which are hand picked by the adult moderators. Chapter three contains very helpful advice on how to draw kids into conversation and encourage every member to voice their opinions. Finally, Part One wraps up with creative ideas on how to energize your club. Some clubs take field trips, or make foods that tie in with the book or it's setting. There are suggestions that go along with some of the books featured in Part Two.

Part Two is an absolute treasure trove, as it lists the top 50 titles most recommended by book clubs. These are categorized by approximate grade level, though some books may be useful for more than one age bracket.

Two terrific selections for grades 1-5 are Eleanor Estes' classic, "100 Dresses", and Norton Juster's, "The Phantom Tollbooth". Each book may be accompanied by input from the author, crafts, recipes, and more. For "100 Dresses", there is biographical information on the author, a recipe for frosted sugar cookies that may be "dressed", a dressy stick people craft, design a dress assignment, and a suggestion to collect clothing for needy families.

For grades 4-7, recommendations include Carl Hiaason's "Hoot" and Blue Balliett's "Chasing Vermeer". Chasing Vermeer's section includes an author scoop, author reading recommendations, a yummy M & M brownie recipe, suggestions for pentominoe play, an art exploration activity, and discussion topics.

The young teen section for grades 6-8 has many challenging books, including "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card and "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. For "Ender's Game", Orson Scott Card discusses his book, there is a slightly peculiar recipe for peanutbutter and jelly, a suggested contemplative activity from the author, laser tag, freeze tag, a scavenger hunt, and more.

The selections for older teens, in grades 9-12, are also outstanding. Examples here are, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" by Mark Haddon, and To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
I think the authors did a terrific job of selecting books. Titles for every grade level include particular favorites of myself or my children, and the mix of old books and new books, "boy" books and "girl" books is very well balanced.

Highly recommended!

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By: Gilbert Marquissee

Gilbert Marquissee — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:10:53 +0000

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Jam Packed with Ideas, June 7, 2007

Gilbert Marquissee -

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This review is from: The Kids' Book Club Book: Reading Ideas, Recipes, Activities, and Smart Tips for Organizing Terrific Kids' Book Clubs (Paperback)

This book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in beginning a kids' book club. The book ideas, activities and recipes are well thought out and enticing. This is a 'must have' for teacher, librarians, or anyone interested in literature for children and young adults.

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By: Learning All The Time "It's Never Too Late to...

Learning All The Time "It's Never Too Late to... — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:40:10 +0000

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Great ideas and fun to read, June 24, 2007

Learning All The Time "It's Never Too Late to... (USA) -

This review is from: The Kids' Book Club Book: Reading Ideas, Recipes, Activities, and Smart Tips for Organizing Terrific Kids' Book Clubs (Paperback)

As a do-it-your-selfer, I used to pick up these kinds of books and think to myself, "I could do this, I could come up with these ideas, I don't need to buy this book!" However, over the last couple of years, I've realized that sometimes it is just wonderful to have someone else do the legwork. And this book is filled with interesting, fun ideas that would be useful to anyone planning a book club - for a classroom, an after school program, for the neighborhood, for homeschool groups, ecetera.

The book begins with advice about setting up a book club, deciding who should be in it and which books will be read.

Then it is divided into sections that recommend books for elementary readers (10 books); middle school readers (gr. 5-7; 23 books); young teen readers (gr. 6-8; 11 books); and advanced readers (gr. 9+; 6 books).

The books span the years, some being modern and some having stood the test of time. Each book is followed by a brief summary, author notes, relevant recipes, several activity ideas (crafts, service projects, etc...), and discussion questions. Quotes and comments from various book clubs around the country are also included.

Personally, I would have preferred more meat about the recommended book authors, rather than the 2 or 3 bullet points the book contains.

I also think this book should have been three books, one targeting elementary kids, one targeting middle readers/young teens, and one targeting high school kids. As it is, the main audience seems to be middle readers/young teens as they get 34 of the 50 books. If you are looking for more ideas for younger elementary kids, you might want to check out the Five in a Row series of books, which contain lots of hands-on ideas for classic picture books that would interest children K-3.

Anyway, quibbles aside, I think this book is well worth the money, and is a good read for book lovers to boot.

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