Mom & Son Book Club #1

I've been reading lots of other blogs lately (no, really?!) and several times I've come across Mother/Daughter book clubs. Each time I do, I find myself wishing I had a daughter or even a niece so I could start a cool club like that. It look me forever to realize the simple fact that I have a son who likes to read with me and that we could do our own Mother/Son book club - duh!

My son is 6 and just finished Kindergarten. He knows about my book club although he doesn't like the fact that I leave him home when I go to the meetings. He also knows about this blog and loves it when I post stuff about him (like here, here, and here). So the other night I asked him, "How would you like to have our own little book club, just you and me? We can take turns picking books to read, then I can write what you think on my blog." The smile on his face was priceless!!!

Tonight we kicked off our little club with two books, one picked by each of us. At the end of each book I asked him a few questions that I hoped would spark some discussion:

• Did you like this book?
• What was your favorite part?
• What was your least favorite part?
• Would you recommend it to your friends?

For our first book I chose a one that belonged to me when I was a child, The Horse in Harry's Room, by Syd Hoff. I have the original edition from 1970. Kiddo was a bit disappointed by the sketch-style illustrations; he would have like more color. Half-way through the book I asked him if the Harry's horse was imaginary and he said "No, but it can be invisible when it needs to be." His favorite illustration was the cover, and his least favorite was the horses in the field. It seems that he like the "invisible" horse much better than the real ones.

Next it was kiddo's turn to pick. He chose Star Wars: Episode I, Play-a-Sound book. Now if you knew kiddo this would be no surprise; he's absolutely fanatical about anything Star Wars. [When we decided to do the Mother/Son book club I made a rule that he can't choose Star Wars books all the time, but since this was our first time I made an exception. Also, this book is one of those where you push the buttons during the story and it makes sounds that match what's going on. I really didn't want to do this type of book for our club but oh well - I made another exception! Besides, I'm giving this book away to my nephew next week so this will be kiddo's last chance to read it although he doesn't know that yet.] Of course he loved this book. His favorite part is when Qui-Gon, Jar-Jar, Padme, and R2-D2 go to Watto's shop and meet Anakin. His least favorite part is when Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Jar-Jar are being chased through the swamp by the battle droids. When I asked why, he said "there's too much detail for me ... there's too much going on in the picture." I found that rather intriguing - who knew you could put too much in an illustration? Kiddo says he would recommend this book to his friends but only if they like Star Wars.

All in all I'm very pleased with our new Mother/Son book club. What do you all think? Do you like the idea? I'd love to hear some book suggestions from all of you. Which books do you think are "must reads" for a 6 year old boy? Any and all tip, suggestions, and comments are welcome!