Family Book Club Started

I've started a family book club this week. Gathering ideas from friends and the library "book bags" our library does, I put together what I hope will be a fun family tradition for us. Hopefully, even after everyone moves off on their own. I started by trying to pick books that our whole family would enjoy. The first one is the audio book ULYSSESS MOORE The Door to Time. I gave it to X first, who is 12. In a bag with the audio version of the book I put two letters-one to read before the book is started and one to read afterwards. I also put the activity supplies in the bag. The "before" letter had these instructions:

Do the “Before you read this book activity”. Listen to the book and then do the activities provided either after or during as indicated. When you are finished with the book, write up what you think of it and put it in the enclosed letter, repack it with activities for the next person, and give it to someone else in the family.

Before you read this book:
Look up the word “promenade” and see what it means.

Activities:
1. Rip the enclosed towel in strips and make a rope like they do in the book. Standing on our wooden balcony, try to lift something heavy (NOT a person) off of the backyard grass.
2. Build the enclosed model of a ship.
3. Eat the chocolate covered cherries only when you hear them mentioned in the book!
4. Go for a bike ride if you'd like.
5. When you hear about palindromes, write your own and post it by the computer.
(*You may add any activities this book makes you think of that you think the next family member would enjoy.)

Since no one is reading the same book at the same time I realized I could send out several books at once. Especially when the other kids looked like they were missing out when I handed out the first one. So I started SAVVY next. For this book I bought the hardcovered book version and wrote what I thought about it in the front of the book. I gave it to S, who is 15, with the instructions to add her thoughts to the book when she was done before she passed it on. I will be getting a storm activity to go with it but it hasn't come yet. I think this will be a fun read aloud with my youngest, G, who is 8.

The next book I started was THE DEMON IN THE FREEZER. This book is only going to go to the older two kids in the family. Us parents have already read it. I recorded what I thought about it and passed it on to J, who is 16, with the same instructions-to write what he thinks about it when he's finished and pass it to his sister. He felt bad there was no chocolate covered cherries with this book and so I promised to put some fun treat in the freezer to have when he gets to the part about the freezer!