Book Club

The Orland Library Book Club for kids met today. I have 5 (or 6 or 7--depends on who shows up) 4th to 6th graders in the group. Our book this month was Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede. All but one of the kids read it and enjoyed it, and a couple of them plan to read the rest of the books in the series.

We talked about:
How would you describe Cimorene? Kazul?
What was the funniest part of the book?
Do you know what cherries jubilee is?
Do you like fantasy?
Which cover do you like better, the hardbound or the paperback?

The cover vote was split 50/50. I'm a diehard Trina Schart Hyman fan, so I like the original cover, but the paperback cover, by Peter de Seve, is good too, with a great look of disdain on Kazul's face.

I didn't want to set fire to the library making cherries jubilee, so we had chocolate mousse for treat instead. (Princess Cimorene cooks both of these in the book.) The girls liked it; the boys would have preferred brownies.

For an activity we made Flubber (also known as Gack). Here's the recipe:

2 cups white glue
1 1/2 cups warm water
a few drops of food coloring

Mix the ingredients in a large bowl.
In a separate cup dissolve 3 teaspoons of borax in 1 1/3 cups warm water.

Add borax water to glue and stir. As you stir the mixture will coalesce, the water will be absorbed, and you will end up with a rubbery, bouncy, moldable, stretchable concoction.

It's a magical scientific experiment!