Saturday, January 22, 2011

American Girl Book Club (Grades 3-5)

I love all of the programs we have at the library, but this one is especially dear to me as I grew up reading the American Girl books and playing with my own Samantha and Felicity dolls.  I love how the books, dolls, and accessories make history come alive.  This has been such a fun program to plan.  The club meets on the third Saturday of each month from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  We usually start out by having an informal conversation about the book while we eat a snack.  I make a point to talk about what it would have been like to live in that era.  The second half hour is spent making a craft that ties in with the time period.  I have a few photos of the book club I will post at a later time.  But for now, please scroll down to see what activities we have done in book club thus far.


The girls seem to really enjoy book club and I will be doing it again next year.


February
Girl of the Month: Addy Walker    
We will be reading Meet Addy by Connie Porter.
Girls are encouraged to bring a doll (does not have to be an AG doll) to each meeting.  Beginning in February, we'll be having a monthly fashion show and the models will be our dolls, of course!


January
Girl of the Month:  Josefina Montoya, (1824 - near Santa Fe, New Mexico) 
Book:  Secrets in the Hills by Kathleen Ernst
Craft: Painted hair combs
Snack: Biscochitos (New Mexican anise cookies)


December 
Girl of the Month: Felicity Merriman (1774 - Williamsburg, VA)
Book:  Felicity's Surprise by Valerie Tripp
Craft:  Pomander balls (oranges covered in whole cloves, rolled in spices - the girls loved making these!)
Snack:  Christmas cookies


November
Girl of the Month: Kit Kittredge (1934 - Cleveland, OH)
Book: Kit Learns a Lesson by Valerie Tripp
Craft:  Scotty dog felt pillows (just like Kit's special pin)
Activity:  Listened to an episode of the Little Orphan Annie radio show
Snack:  Ovaltine


October
Girl of the Month:  Molly McIntire (1944 - Jefferson, IL)
Book: Meet Molly by Valerie Tripp
Craft:  Victory garden in a jar (we planted herbs in glass spaghetti jars)
Snack: War cake and mock apple pie (they had fun guessing the missing ingredient - apples).  The girls each received a mini ration book with coupons to exchange for treats.


September
Girl of the Month:  Kirsten Larson (1854 - Sweden & Minnesota)
Book:  Kirsten Saves the Day by Janet Shaw
Activities: Learned the Virginia Reel; tried to make homemade butter but it turned out to be whipped cream because I put too much cream in the jar...oops!
Craft: Corn husk dolls
Snack: Biscuits with homemade cream and jam

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