DIY Book Clubs for Kids

The Children’s Library is rolling out a new service and collection for all our avid readers.  We’ve set aside 6 copies of popular  titles, new and classic, as Reading Club sets.  So many books are discussion worthy; we wanted to make more available to our patrons .  Each title also has material about the book and author along with discussion questions to get you started.  You can tailor the discussion to suit your own schedule, invite your friends, share the book ( or maybe just part of it ) any way you want.  Have a mini reader theater, or even Skype with the author. The books may be checked out for longer than the standard 2 weeks.  We'll be adding new titles; please feel free to make suggestions.

Titles Suggested for Grades 2 - 4

Hachiko Waits  by Lesléa Newman  

Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

Judy Moody (Was in a Bad Mood) by Megan McDonald

Harry’s Mad by Dick King-Smith 

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo    

Titles Suggested for Grades 4-6    

Wonder by R. J. Polacio  

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Because of Mr. Terupt  by Rob Buyea

I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871 by Lauren Tarshis  

Of course, the Children's Library will still be offering our monthly Wednesday
night book discussions here at the Library.  The schedule for Winter/Spring 2016
is available at the Children's Circulation desk and the online calendar.  
We love to talk books!

"Best of 2015" book lists

It's getting to be that time of year again--holiday shopping season--which is also the time for book review departments at magazines and newspapers to announce their lists of best books of the year. Here are links to the lists that have been published online so far:

A list of "100 notable books of 2015" from the New York Times Sunday Book Review section:
100 notable books of 2015

From the British newspaper The Guardian, writers describe their favorite books of the past year:
The Guardian favorite books list

The 10 best books of 2015 from the book reviewers at The Washington Post. Ten are deemed "exceptionally rewarding," but there are 100 more:
10 best plus 100 more

A list of 150 "best books" of  2015 chosen by the staff of Publishers Weekly. Links to the full review (and sometimes author interviews or other supplementary material) are included; use the black navigation bar near the top of the screen to move from genre to genre within the list:
150 best books

Need to buy a gift for a reader?

Here's a list of 50 best literary gifts for a modern-day book lover. The list includes clothing, posters, e-reader cases, jewelry, and more from sources like Amazon Handmade and Etsy:
best literary gifts

From a few years back, here are some "insanely clever" bookish gift ideas from BuzzFeed (everything from book-shaped lamps to book-scented candles and perfume):
bookish gift ideas