the gollywhopper games

Our mother-daughter book club just finished Jody Feldman's wonderful book The Gollywhopper Games. It's a great read for boys and girls (ages 8-12) - all of our girls loved it!

Our book club meeting was a blast. Ellen and I hosted this month with our friends, Audrey and Alex. Audrey, Ellen, and Morgan, another friend in our book club, all met when they were 2 years old. They go to three different schools now - it's so nice to visit every month and stay connected.

In the spirit of the book, we put together a series of challenges for the girls. We did a few brainteasers based on past books that we've read together and we also came up with a couple of water games (to take advantage of Alex and Audrey's great pool). Each member of the winning team got a gift card to buy our next book club pick.

Here's a little video I put together of the day. We'd love to hear your book suggestions for our group! Our girls are 8-11years old.

Video music courtesy of Ellen - "Send It On" by Project Green: Disney Friends for Change.

Comments

[Sandi Keene]

What about the classic Anne of Green Gables? I loved Anne Shirley's spunk.

[MaryBeth]

This is just so beautiful!! I want to be in the book club! =)
Gosh its been 35 yrs since I was 12 and i am squeezing my mind trying to think of Favorites....sure wish now I had kept an ongoing list.
I read everyday.
A Tree That Grows in Brooklyn,
To Kill a Mockingbird
comes to mind. I will have to do some memory hunting and come back with more. This is so inspiring.
Big Hugs To All Of You!
DesertNana
MB

[Gretchen]

It's been awhile since I emersed myself in young people's literature, but I was emersed at one point... Two books that come to mind are Sahara Special and Tiger Rising. I noticed they're still on my grandfather's bookshelves at the house where I was living when I taught 5th/6th grade. If the books are still around, they must have made an impression. Especially Tiger Rising. It's by Kate DiCamillo, who also wrote Because of Winn-Dixie, another book to check out if your girls haven't already read it.

[Bonnie]

Cuuuuute!! My we have some beautiful and brilliant and amazing daughters!! I guess they come by it honestly. : )

Your photographs are really good Brene. All that practice is paying off!

When can we all read Gone With The Wind? Aren't all girls required to read that?

xoxo Bon

[Monica]

Oh .... After Hamelin by Bill Richardson is fantastic! Loved by adults as much as children. I could tell you all about it, but so can Amazon. :)

Another great one is Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. Another keeper for adults and children. Set in Afghanistan.

My daughter and I recently read Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker. We both LOVED it.

All three of these provide so many important aspects of relationships and life to discuss.

(As a teacher who loves juvenile fiction I could give you a much longer list, but try any of these and let me know if you need more choices. :))

[chrissy]

Your book club looks amazing! I'm a middle school librarian, so I constantly read books for that age group. There's a short series of books called The Mother Daughter Book Club (Heather Vogel Frederick) that might be fun. Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree is great too. There's an emphasis on the effects of bullying that would make for meaningful discussion. Meg Cabot's Allie Finkle series is age appropriate and light-hearted. Feathers, by Jacqueline Woodson explores race issues. I could go on and on....

Thank you for enriching our lives with your blog AND for being a mother who makes reading fun for her children. :-)

[Stephanie]

The perfect book for a book club -- The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs! I loved this book and it is all about finding the extraordinary in your own backyard.


Another one that I absolutely love is the Higher Power of Lucky -- such a great story -- but I can't quite remember if it would fit this age group. I know there was a controversy because of the word scrotum in this book.

[Jane]

What a fantastic idea! I've never considered a parent/child bookclub before. It's a great way to further instill the love of reading. What wonderful moms!

[alex]

thanks for putting that together...so funny that after all of the pre-chaos it turned out to be such a beautiful afternoon... there's the reason to have gone forward despite the challenges!!! it was a fun team effort! xoxo alex (&audrey)

[Kelly]

what an awesome experience for you and your daughter!!

[Tatjana]

The Wheel on the School, by Meinart DeJong
Great story about one girl's idea creating wellness for her community.

[monica]

What fun! The girls look like they had a fabulous time! We are looking forward to your Hundred Dreses book party.

Good choice of music...one of Maggie's faves!

[Goddess Leonie]

oh my goodness... this is just SUCH a beautiful, precious idea! i adore what you are creating here & everywhere you go, brene :)

[Jennifer]

I've heard really good things about Savvy by Ingrid Law:

http://us.penguingroup.com/static/packages/us/yreaders/savvy/index.html

It's on my son's stack of books to read--he was obsessed with the Harry Potter books (as if I wasn't?) and I'm hoping it's a similar blend of good story and magic.

[Cameron]

What a cool video and a great song to show an even cooler group and idea. I love that you all do this with your daughters!!

[tracy g]

My daughter and her friends had a book club from 3rd-6th grade and I also read the books and our all-time fav, hands down was Walk Two Moons. You will love this book!

[Brené Brown]

I'm LOVING this book suggestions! Thank you!

[Sara S]

I loved the first Boxcar Children. I still fantasize about running away and finding one of my own.

[Jody Feldman]

I'm fully aware that even if you hadn't chosen to read The Gollywhopper Games, you would have experienced many smiles and laughs and (as the pictures seem to depict) joyous moments at your August book club, but I'm truly thankful that I could play a small role in this gathering.

And so my visit here is productive, too, several titles ...
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles
Bringing the Boy Home by N.A. Nelson

[Kelly Warren]

wonderful video. your book club looks like such fun. my girls just turned six so we aren't quite reading much on our own yet. just want to say how much i enjoy your blog. so glad i found you!

[JennaKate]

Beautiful girls, inspiring women. Love the whole idea of the mother-daughter book club! One book I adored in my early teens was Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block. Its the first book of an eclectic series, revolving around what it means to create family and find oneself. The books deal with progressively more adult themes through the series, but the first book was relatively tame. I also enjoyed the Golden Compass and its sequels. Catherine, Called Birdy (by Karen Cushman) is great, and there's even a q guide <a href=http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/catherinecalledbirdy.html>here</a>. One more book that I adored is The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. Its an account of a girl who is transported to Poland during the Holocaust. Incredible, haunting, and accessible for young people. I can't wait to see what you read next!

[JennaKate]

Ooops, sorry my HTML-ing failed. Link here:

http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/catherinecalledbirdy.html

[farrah Braniff]

Amazing video and such great pictures!!!!!! I loved it. It looks like it was so much fun.

[Fiona]

I second Kate di Camillo books - Edward Tulane is one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read - and The Tale of Despereaux is also wonderful.

As a 12 year old (or thereabouts) my all-time-favourite book was Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield. But then I was ballet mad, so that might have had something to do with it?

It's so lovely to see and read about your Mother/Daughter book club. It seems to me that a love of literature seems to be fading a lot these days?

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