Book Club

I want to tell you about Book Club.

I want to tell you that every week for an hour and a half, sixteen preschool – second graders get together and we discuss a Magic Treehouse book called Pirates Past Noon.

I want to tell you that one day we pretended we were pirates and made eye patches, telescopes and pirate journals.

I want to tell you that we each read a couple of chapters from the book and come to our meeting with a job: Passage Picker, Discussion Director, Illustrator, Quiz Maker, and Researcher. You are welcome to print them up and make a Book Club of your own. Just click on the titles and print away. I didn’t make these jobs up.  Years ago, on a blustery December night in Mishawaka, Indiana, another teacher and I sat in a classroom long after all the other teachers left and she showed me how to do Book Club.  She was telling me about this activity because she was leaving and I was replacing her. Seven days after I got married, she would move to start a new phase in her life, and I would step into her classroom and start mine.

Like her, Book Club was one of my favorite parts of teaching.  I loved teaching the kids how to discuss a book, how to think about characters and plotlines. I loved listening to and looking at what they reacted to while reading the story. Today, I love going to the park, the toystore, the ice-cream shop, the zoo, and the pool, but I can’t think of anything better than hanging out with a child while talking about a story.

But what I really want to tell you about is the moms who help me do this summer Book Club. They’re a great group of ladies who, when I asked if they’d be interested in doing this sort of thing, said, “Sure!”  They bring snacks, help me manage the energy and effervescence that makes up 4-7 year old children.  They tell me it’s OK when I make mistakes, when I realize too late that I needed to bring more glue sticks, or crayons, or pencils.  I think they’re my friends and I think they know I have big ideas but don’t always know how to execute them perfectly.

So I want to tell you that I think you should start a Book Club of your own.  I think you’ll have a good time talking about stories with your kids and their friends. I think you’ll be surprised and maybe overwhelmed at how many moms will think this is a fantastic idea. And I think that maybe you’ll begin to find your place in your neighborhood as the kids gather around to hear and talk about a story.

Or maybe that’s just me.