MJS Book Club
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Winter is a great time to read and get ready for the 4th Annual Book Club!
Students in Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade will meet after school on Monday, January 28, 3:05-4:30 pm. The magical title for Book Club will be: The Tales of Beedle the Bard: The Illustrated Edition or the regular edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling.
Students in Kindergarten and First Grade will meet after school Monday, February 4, 3:05-4:15 pm. The magical titles for Book Club will be: Thelma the Unicorn | Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great | You Don’t Want a Unicorn!
Students in Second and Third Grade will meet after school on Monday, February 4, 3:05-4:15 pm. The magical title for Book Club will be Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski.
Snacks will be served and book crafts done at each meeting. Book Club will be in the HPAC, led by librarians Tatiana Guyer and Beth Stavros. Email Tatiana Guyer with questions. See you soon!
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
Review by Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books:
The Tales of Beedle the Bard held the secret to the Deathly Hallows in the final book of the Harry Potter series; here the tales are retold in full, translated by Hermione Granger, with commentary from Albus Dumbledore, and introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling. This thorough interpenetration of the fictive and the metafictive is cleanly accomplished: Rowling’s formidable imagination produces stories that have the sleek lines of actual folktales, which are limned with sly humor, folk morality, and a sense of the macabre, and well integrated into the wizarding world that she created in the series proper. Dumbledore’s commentary is precisely what you would expect and wish; in his unmistakably professorial voice—gentle and scholarly with occasional bites of sarcasm and worldly wit—he combines personal associations and memories with history, lore, ideological context, and even a jab at the attempts of certain protective authors who have foolishly tried to sanitize dark stories for the consumption of children. The tales themselves are suitable for reading aloud to early elementary school children not yet ready to tackle the entire series on their own; the commentary would serve as a teachable introduction for older students to the kinds of essays and topics one might take up in writing about stories. Thus this is a text that straddles the lines between the casual reader and the literary critic/historian, between the child just entering the world of Harry Potter and the readers who have grown up with the series and are looking to re-enter the world and begin what promises to be an extended process of filling in gaps and fleshing out complexities.
Thelma the Unicorn | Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great | You Don’t Want a Unicorn!
Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski
Review by School Library Journal:
Nory's father is the headmaster of an elite magic academy, but if Nory wants to enter fifth grade there in the fall, she'll have to get her "wonky" magic under control. She's a Fluxer, which means she can turn into an animal—but not an ordinary animal like a kitten. Unfortunately, Nory always turns herself into odd animal combos like a kitten and a beaver or a kitten and a dragon, and she has a hard time controlling herself in her animal form. When Nory fails Sage Academy's Big Test, she's sent to live with her aunt and attend a public school that has just started an Upside-Down Magic Class. Even though Aunt Margo is kind and her teacher, Ms. Starr, is supportive, Nory's magic mishaps alienate her classmates. When she is given the opportunity to train herself to keep her magic in "The Box of Normal," she must decide once and for all where she belongs. Readers will enjoy the details of Nory's magical world and empathize with her struggle. VERDICT: The story is engaging enough to appeal to reluctant readers, and Nory's equally entertaining classmates make it likely that sequels will ensue.
Book Club Checklist
- Register for Book Club
- Buy or borrow Book Club title(s); read for Book Club
- Book Club meetings will be in the HPAC
- Monday, 01.28.19, 3:05-4:30 pm, grades 3-5 | The Tales of Beedle the Bard
- Monday, 02.04.19, 3:05-4:15 pm, grades K-1 | Thelma the Unicorn | Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great | You Don’t Want a Unicorn!
- Monday, 02.04.19, 3:05-4:15 pm, grades 2-3 | Upside-Down Magic