Third Graders Travel Back to Times of American Slavery with Search-and-Rescue Dog, Ranger

Hello Readers!

This week, third graders are meeting to discuss book #3 in Kate Messner's Ranger in Time series: Long Road to Freedom.

Meet Ranger! He’s a time-traveling golden retriever who has a nose for trouble . . . and always saves the day! Ranger has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog, but can’t officially pass the test because he’s always getting distracted by squirrels during exercises. One day, he finds a mysterious first aid kit in the garden that transports him to important moments in history!

In Long Road to Freedom, Ranger heads back to a plantation in Maryland during the days of American slavery to help a young girl named Sarah and her little brother, Jesse, as they attempt to escape to freedom in the North. This story is full of struggles, hope, courage, and history. It is a great introduction to the Underground Railroad. 

To preview our discussion questions, click here. You can visit the Grade 3 page to link to web sites and an interactive game connected to the story. Please remember to bring your book to our meeting.





Please check out these other amazing picture books as well:

• Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
• Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
• Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold
  
  

Happy reading!

Detective Chickens, a Scaredy-Squirrel, and a UFOh-My!

Hello Readers!

This week our 2nd grade book club members are discussing The Chicken Squad: The First Misadventure by Doreen Cronin (author of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type).

Meet Dirt, Sugar, Poppy, and Sweetie: the shortest, yellowest, fuzziest detectives in town. These four chicks who are not your typical barnyard puffs of fluff, and they are not about to spend their days pecking chicken feed and chasing bugs. No sir, they’re too busy solving mysteries and fighting crime. They’re darling. They’re daring. They’re chicks on a mission—and on this, their first (mis)adventure, the Chicken Squad launches a galactic backyard expedition.

When Tail the not-so-brave squirrel comes barreling into the chicken coop, the chicks know it's up to them to figure out what Tail is so afraid of. But when he describes it as BIG and SCARY, that doesn't give much insight as to what is lurking beyond the coop. Good thing these chicks are professionals. But even professionals get worried. Especially once they see that round, shiny, green, BIG thing in the yard. What if it’s a UFO full of aliens who want chickens as pets? Can the Chicken Squad defeat something that just might be -gulp- from out of this world?

This hilarious backyard adventure is the first in a series of three books. To preview our discussion questions, click here. Visit the Grade 2 page for more links to Doreen Cronin's books and a web site about idioms - expressions that mean something totally different from the literal definition of the words being used.

Happy reading!

Crenshaw - Finding Strength to Fight Homelessness and Childhood Hunger

Hello Readers!

This week, 4th and 5th graders are meeting to discuss Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate (Newbery Award winning author of The One and Only Ivan).  In this story, we meet Jackson, a fifth grader, and his family who have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.

Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?

As we discuss this story, themes of friendship, family, and resilience surface. And more importantly, Crenshaw opens the door to a discussion of what middle graders (or any of us) can do to help combat childhood hunger and homelessness. Applegate does an excellent job of bringing these issues to the surface without making the book too "heavy".

For a preview of our discussion questions and links to ideas for ways we can help, please click here. Please visit the Grade 4 or Grade 5 page for links to the Crenshaw web site, national organizations that aim to address childhood hunger and/or homelessness, as well as local (Seattle/King County area) organizations that we can support. Let's make a difference!

Happy reading!

3rd Grade Slueths Search for the Missing Museum Archives

Hello readers!

This week third graders will be meeting to discuss The Case of the Missing Museum Archives by Steve Brezenoff. Another mystery needs to be solved when the plans for the Bat-Wing, a prototype historical aircraft, disappear from the Capitol City Air and Space Museum. Eleven-year-old Amal Farah's father, the museum's assistant archivist, is blamed. No one suspects a crime has been committed - except Amal and her friends. With her father's job on the line, it's up to them to track down the missing plans. Can Amal and her friends get to the bottom of the museum mystery before it's too late?


Click here to preview our discussion questions. Please remember to bring your book to the meeting as we will use it for our discussion and clue hunting.

Happy reading!

2nd Grade Sleuths Solve Swimming Pool Mystery

Hello, readers, and happy new year!

Do you like a good mystery? Break out your magnifying glass, put on your detective cap, and help us investigate. On January 12, 2nd graders will meet to discuss The Swimming Pool Mystery, book two in The Whodunit Detective Agency series by Martin Widmark.

The books in The Whodunit Detective Agency series are set in the little town of Pleasant Valley. The main characters, Jerry and Maya, are classmates and close friends who run a small detective agency together. This story takes place at Christmastime, and the town is getting ready to celebrate. But when all the lockers at the Pleasant Valley swimming pool are emptied during the Big Holiday Swim, it looks like Christmas won't be very merry. Once again, Jerry and Maya use their super sleuthing skills to help the police chief track down the mysterious thief.

 

Click here to preview our discussion questions. Visit the Grade 2 page to take a look at more books in this mystery series.

Happy reading (and sleuthing)!

5th Graders Read, Run Away and Revolt with Crisipin

Hello Readers!

This week 5th graders are meeting to discuss Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi. This book takes place in 1377 England, also known as the Medieval period. The main character, known as “Asta’s son,” has no name and lives life as a poor peasant. But this 13-year-old boy who thought he had little to lose soon finds himself with even less—no home, family, or possessions. Accused of a crime he did not commit, he has been declared a “wolf’s head.” That means he may be killed on sight, by anyone. If he wishes to remain alive, he must flee his tiny village. All the boy takes with him is a newly revealed name—Crispin—and his mother’s cross of lead. His journey through the English countryside is amazing and terrifying, as he is forced to become a servant, encouraged to think for himself, and become someone he never thought he could be.


History and masterful storytelling come together in this Newbery-award winning book by Avi. Discussion questions and background information can be found here. Remember to visit the Grade 5 page as well to learn more about the feudal system, the Black Death, and the Peasant's Revolt of 1381.

Happy reading!

Fourth Graders Find Ways To Deal with Worries (and Maybe a Bully)

Hello Readers!

• Have you ever had worries (about homework & tests & strict teachers) before the start of a school year?
• Have you ever felt stuck when trying to  make a decision that would make everyone happy?
• Have you ever felt like you maybe one of your friends might be a little bit of a bully sometimes?

That is what our main character, Justin Krzeszweski, aka Justin Case, is dealing with at the start of his 4th grade school year. Still, Justin believes he can start fourth grade without being such a "worried kid." But when things start changing with some of his friends, he isn't sure what to do - branch out with new friendships, or stay loyal to old ones. Maybe there is a way to do both. Or maybe not, especially if a friend maybe becomes a bully.

Fourth grade book club members will meet in the Big Woods pod at 8:00 AM on December 8 to discuss Rachel Vail's Justin Case: Rules, Tools, and Maybe a Bully. Please remember to bring your book to the meeting. If you would like to preview our discussion questions, click here. You can also visit the grade 4 page for more links to ideas about anti-bullying, Gandhi, and aliens who like candy.

Happy reading!