Our Last Book Club Meeting of the School Year

This Thursday, June 5, 7-8 p.m. will be the last meeting of the school year for the Ashburn Kids Book Club. We will be discussing the book, "The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy." We will also learn a little about the author, Jeanne Birdsall. We will also take a vote to see which book you enjoyed the most this year. Finally, we will end with our traditional ice-cream party! Feel free to bring ice-cream toppings to share!

It's been a fun year of reading. We have completed 10 books and learned about 10 different authors. We will start the book club again in September for those of you who will still be in grades 3-5. If you are moving on to middle school, the Ashburn Library has a middle school book club just for you, directed by our teen librarian.

Don't forget to visit the library over the summer. We will have our annual Summer Reading Program plus lots of special programs and activities.

Have a wonderful summer and keep reading!

May's Book Club Meeting

We will be meeting for our May book club this week on Thursday, May 1, 7-8 p.m. We'll be discussing the book "No Talking" by Andrew Clements. I hope you've enjoyed reading it! One of the things I am hoping we can do is re-create the experience from the book where the kids created a whole story with just 3-word sentences. So, brush up on your 3-word responses and we'll see what happens.

Registration for the June book club meeting will begin on Thursday morning, May 1, at 10 am. So, just remember to register for book club in the morning and come to book club that night. This way you'll be able to take home the next book. The book for June is going to be: "The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy." It's by Jeanne Birdsall.

See you on Thursday!

Kids' Post Review of "No Talking"

I was excited to turn to the Kids' Post section of the Washington Post on Monday (March 24) and see a book review for "No Talking" by Andrew Clements, the book we will be reading for our May 1 book club meeting. Tracy Grant, who wrote the book review, says, "No Talking is Andrew Clement's most thought-provoking and innovative book since 1996's Frindle." Click here to link to the Washington Post article.

But I'm jumping ahead of myself just a bit. Right now I hope you are reading and enjoying our April book selection, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. We will meet for book club on Thursday, April 3, 7-8 pm.

The Tale of Despereaux

Our book club selection for the month of April is a wonderful book by author Kate DiCamillo entitled, "The Tale of Despereaux." This book won the prestigious Newbery Award in 2004. It is a wonderful tale about a mouse named Despereaux Tilling, who is not like any mouse you've ever known. He is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro and a slow-witted serving girl named Miggery Sow. These three characters embark on a fantastic journey. I know you're going to love this book!

Just an explanation about the name "Despereaux" -- it is pronounced like this: Des-per-row. I often hear kids mispronounce this title because of the unusual spelling.

Have fun reading this month and I'll see you at our next book club meeting on Thursday, April, at 7 p.m.

Visit the Kids' Page on the LCPL website!

Did you know there's a special space on the library's website just for kids? Well, there is! It's chock full of fun facts and useful resources. Check it out: Kids' Page

Satch and Me

Our book selection for March is Satch and Me by Dan Gutman. This book is one of several books in the Baseball Card Adventure series. So if you like this book, there are many more just waiting for you to read! Mr. Gutman is a prolific writer of children's books. Another fun book series written by him is the My Weird School series (Mrs. Yonkers is Bonkers, Mr. Macky is Wacky, etc.). Many of Gutman's books feature a sports theme (The Million Dollar Shot) but he has also written mysteries, biographies, non-fiction, and books for adults. All of his books are fast-paced and fun to read. Dan Gutman is definitely a good author to get to know!

Silk Umbrellas by Carolyn Marsden

Our next book club meeting will be Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. We will be discussing the book, Silk Umbrellas by Carolyn Marsden. Ms. Marsden has published eight multicultural children's books and will have two more books published this year. She is a careful and talented author who wants to introduce readers to children of different cultures and to explore their joys and problems. In Silk Umbrellas, we are taken into the culture and lifestyle of a rural village in Thailand. I could really relate to this book since I had the great opportunity to live in Thailand from 1997-2000. I'm excited to share this book with the Ashburn book club readers and to bring some of my souvenirs from living three years in Thailand.