The Tiger's Bookshelf: A Community of Readers
Long ago, back in the Dark Ages of bookselling when life was more leisurely and bookstores had enough time to provide a plethora of programs for readers, I worked in a bookstore that had a monthly Story Hour for little children. It was successful and a good time was had by all, but then some of our audience outgrew the stories and asked for something more substantial than picture books.
That request grew into a read-aloud hour for school-age listeners, a club for young writers, and a book group for young readers, ranging in age from eight to twelve years old. This cluster of programs became popular with our book store staff as well as with our young customers, and booksellers vied for the chance to facilitate these monthly meetings, with the book group becoming the most popular offering for both the presenters and the participants.
We were lucky. The members of our book group came to us as an off shoot of another well-established program. They were already devoted readers by the time we launched a book group, they were accustomed to coming to our events, and they felt comfortable in the store and with the staff. It was the ideal climate for a flourishing book group.
Ten years later, that climate has changed for everyone. Families maintain much more rigorous schedules than in the past, bookstores have been forced to become more competitive, and more and more children are abandoning the printed word. And yet book groups are more popular than ever in the adult reading world. Certainly they could be for children as well.
Do you belong to a book group? Do your children? Have you begun a book group for children? Do you wish you could but are unsure of how to go about it? Let us know. In addition to providing an online book group where children and adults can discuss books that they love, PaperTigers also would love to provide a spot where experienced book group participants give pointers to those who are beginning to explore the pleasures of reading and chatting with others of like mind.
How did your group begin? What do you read? How do you keep your discussions lively and your meetings well-attended? What advice do you have for people who are beginning their own groups? Please let us know and help us spread the joy of reading.
January 15th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
As a writer, reader, and mother, books are very much a part of my family life — but often the question is “Which book to read?” Different ages, different tastes — it’s a bit like herding cats — and yet, books can draw family members together when they share the page. For us, this happens on long car trips. Even with the advent of built-in DVD players in some vehicles, my kids still prefer hearing books read aloud. Another moment for sharing the page is the bedtime story.
I reacquainted myself with Italo Calvino after reading fairy tales to my daughter. My husband and son share the swash-buckling midieval Japanese world of The Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn as well as the requisite Harry Potter. My husband then went on to list Harry Potter as a required reading for his first year English students whom he has dubbed “The Harry Potter” generation. No, we haven’t joined book clubs yet, but making your family a book club is in itself a beginning.
January 15th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Making your family a book club and “sharing the page” is such a wonderful idea that it stops me cold. One of my greatest joys is when my adult children give me a book that they’ve read and want me to read too. Thanks, Sally.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
As the coordinator of an after school enrichment program, I look forward to 2 yearly highlights: our new book giveaway to the kids. They always stand there looking at the table full of book in awe, and then inevitably, one will ask, “You mean, they’re really free?” After which the meaning of free is taken to mean free-for-all as they dive into the books. It never occured to me start up a book club for the kids; they all attend regularly, and this would be a perfect weekly enrichment. It would also be a great project for our teen program, too. Thanks!
January 16th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Kim, for the kids who initially are too shy to speak up in a book group, an option might be the book group soon to be unveiled here. Also I’m beginning to amass a collection of gently read review copies of books that I’d be happy to donate to your program–what good work you’re involved with!
January 17th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
As a bookseller I am often frustrated by books being pigeon-holed as “young adult”. Why, just because the protagonist is under 18? Some of the most amazing books I have read have come from this section…”Holes”, “When She was Good” “The Book Thief”. They are so well written and often so provactive in subject matter. The irony (and the beauty) of this is that it often hooks adults and children into reading the same book. That’s a great alternative to a conventional bookclub, moms and daughters sharing books!
January 17th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
“I read children’s books,” a friend once confided to me in hushed tones, and I, who just had finished reading A Wrinkle in Time, was so delighted that somebody else indulged in that guilty pleasure, and that I wasn’t alone. That was decades ago but I think the stigma still lingers. It’s okay to read fluffy mysteries and historical bodice-rippers but a well-written children’s book? Oh my dear!
I live for the day when children and adults discuss the same books as a matter of course, and hope that it happens soon on this blog.
January 19th, 2008 at 9:24 am
[...] Janet, our new blogger, who is encouraging young people to join our virtual book-club – see her introductory post for background and details. Books at Bedtime will continue to recommend books for reading aloud (not [...]
January 21st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I have never belonged to a Book Club, but I do read to my grand nieces everytime they come to visit. I don’t think I have ever belonged to a book club, but I do come from a time when teachers often read books in the classrooms to their students. I remember Mrs. Greene read the best books – they were filled with adventure and often somewhat frightening (but in a delicious way). She read to us through the 6th grade and every student was enthralled. Even those who could not sit still normally for more than 15 minutes or so.
I didn’t like Mrs. Greene much, but I sure did love her reading style and taste in books.
January 21st, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Do teachers have the time now to read aloud to their students? When I was in sixth grade, our teacher read us The Black Cat and other Poe stories–and de Maupassant’s The Necklace. This was in Anchor Point, Alaska, which was hardly a sophisticated or intellectual mecca, but even the “bad kids” looked forward to the next story that year.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:19 pm
My daughter is in 2nd grade and the teacher reads a chapter book to the class every day for 10 – 15 minutes. It reminds me of when I went to school – teacher sitting on a chair, kids at her feet listening with rapt attention. A highlight is when the teacher brings a book from Australia (where she was raised) and shares it. Often these are books which are hard to find in BC and the kids get a real thrill out of that!
January 21st, 2008 at 10:07 pm
That’s such a great image, Corinne–the Maple Leaf Forever! I hope U.S. teachers do the same.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I’ve been dreaming of starting a mother-daughter book group for quite some time now. My daughter is now six, and I’d say I’ve been dreaming about it pretty much since I was pregnant : ) What would be the best age to start one? Is six too early?
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 am
I’d love to see other comments about this but until there are, Sally Ito’s comment that targets the family as a book group is a very good place to begin. In her family, what’s read to and by the children “fertilizes” and broadens the reading choices of the parents.
Even before children read to themselves, I think a parent-child book group would work. Parents could read Peter Pan aloud, for example, and then meet in a group to discuss Why Peter doesn’t want to grow up, Why the Lost Boys give up an idyllic existence of complete freedom to return to Wendy’s world, Why Tinker Bell hates Wendy etc.
More comments? Is pre-school too early? Has anyone reading this started a book group for five year olds?
March 17th, 2011 at 4:26 am
[...] Janet, our new blogger, who is encouraging young people to join our virtual book-club – see her introductory post for background and details. Books at Bedtime will continue to recommend books for reading aloud (not [...]