Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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Running a Book Club for Kids

16 Comments

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Because this series has become popular on Pinterest, I’ve decided to run it again.

 
Read the entire series here:
Books Clubs for Kids
Starting a Book Club for Kids
Running a Book Club for Kids
Book Clubs for Kids: When Problems Arise
Book Clubs for Kids: What Works
Book Clubs for Kids: Win a May B. Book Club Kit!

 

Running a Meeting

It’s a good idea not to have a book discussion that first meeting. Instead, talk about ground rules and what you hope your book club will become. Here are some things to think through beforehand:

  • Will members be allowed to drop in when they feel like participating or will they be expected to attend regularly?
  • What happens if a member hasn’t finished the book?
  • How can members prepare before the meeting?
  • And a key question: What’s the point of a book club?

Here’s a handout I gave my students our first week together:

Welcome to Book Club!

Here are some things you should know:

  • In order to attend a meeting, you need to read the book. That’s it!
  • Sometimes we’ll read a book about a boy. Sometimes we’ll read about a girl. If you are a boy, you CAN read about a girl and survive. I promise. Girls, same for you.
  • To make Book Club as interesting as possible, it is good, though not required, to jot down things as you read. Here are some ideas:
  1. How does this book compare to others I’ve read?
  2. Three words to describe this book would be…
  3. If I were the main character, I would have…
  4. I was suprised/annoyed/happy etc. when __________ happened.
  5. I like this book because…
  6. I didn’t like this book because…
  7. My favorite character is _________ because…
  8. If I could change a part of the story, it would be ___________
  9. And important sentence in this story was _________ because…
  10. Any of your own ideas!
  • You can get yourself a notebook to write notes in. You can write ideas on a scrap of paper. Where you write doesn’t matter.
  • Come to the meeting with something to say! The more you say, the more fun the discussion. If you have a copy of the book, bring it along, too.
  • Come as often as you like.
  • Invite your friends!
  • Challenge yourself to read a type of book you might not pick up on your own.
  • Have fun!

I’m looking forward to our year together.

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Filed Under: books and reading, teaching

Comments

  1. Katie Ganshert says

    June 24, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    What a great post! I always wanted to start a book club when I was teaching, but now that I’m not going back to the classroom next year…

    Reply
  2. Anna Staniszewski says

    June 24, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    I’m really enjoying your book club posts! They’re making me want to start one of my own. 🙂

    Reply
  3. Caroline Starr Rose says

    June 24, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    Katie, maybe a few years from now you could start a group with your son and his friends! The first time I started a book club was right after leaving the classroom. It was an adult group and completely self-serving (I needed people to talk books with, plain and simple!). Since then I’ve been a part of various groups in various communities.

    Reply
  4. Caroline Starr Rose says

    June 24, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    Anna, I hope you do (and come back to share)!

    Reply
  5. K.M. Weiland says

    June 25, 2011 at 4:14 pm

    Great list! My one experience with a book club didn’t go too well. Despite my best attempts to keep it going, it fizzled in less than a year. It was fun while it lasted though. It’s always instructive, as an author, to see how other readers react to stories.

    Reply
  6. LynNerd says

    June 27, 2011 at 4:08 am

    These are great guidelines for a book club. Let us know how it goes.

    Reply
  7. Augusta Scattergood says

    September 10, 2013 at 6:04 pm

    Thanks for the tip to share via Pinterest. Which I just did!

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      September 10, 2013 at 6:28 pm

      Thanks, you!

      Reply
  8. Melissa Mc says

    September 23, 2013 at 3:11 am

    I’ve used this list multiple times since I discovered it 3 years ago! Still great advice!

    Reply
  9. Caroline Starr Rose says

    September 23, 2013 at 7:35 pm

    So glad to hear this!

    Reply
  10. bham-mama says

    January 19, 2014 at 5:21 am

    Caroline – What great tips! My 7 year old has been begging me for a year to start a book club (I’m not in one and I’m not ever sure of where she heard of the concept!). Not knowing where to start, I emailed our local children’s library in Bellingham, WA for suggestions. They were very eager to help. In addition to recommending your blog and a PBS blog, they also came up with a list of books in their system with multiple copies, audiobook versions, varied interest, and the appropriate reading level. Our first meeting is in two weeks and I’ll be sending parents a link to your blog to help them understand the concept. Thank you again for all the great suggestions you have here!

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      January 20, 2014 at 1:57 am

      So glad this was helpful! Please let me know how it goes.

      Reply
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  11. Petersen says

    August 27, 2016 at 5:37 am

    I m one of a few adult members of a predominantly kids book club. We ve had only 2 meetings but the kids involved seem to really enjoy and want to be there, which makes all the difference in the world. Thanks for the tips! I ll forward this along to the other adults in the group!

    Reply
    • Caroline says

      August 28, 2016 at 12:47 pm

      I’m so happy to hear it! I hope the year is a success.

      Reply

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