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Fortunately the Milk book cover

Fortunately, the Milk

About the Book: “I bought the milk,” said my father. “I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: T h u m m t h u m m. I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road.”“Hullo,” I said to myself. “That’s not something you see […]

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Fortunately the Milk Book Cover

Backyard Book Club: Fortunately, the Milk Overview

For a fun, fast book club pick, it would be hard to beat Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman. Even our littlest members were able to finish this one, and there was plenty for the big kids to enjoy too. (Click here for the book spotlight with online resources and other ideas. As usual, we started with […]

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Colorful Milk Science

Our Backyard Book Club pick this month was Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman, so naturally, we needed to do a milk science activity. This is a classic, colorful, and very cool “trick” that appeals to lots of ages. But of course, it’s even cooler if you know the science behind it. Materials: milk, dish soap, cotton […]

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Book with orange background

Five Favorites from 2014

Happy December! I’ve decided to spotlight my top ten middle grade and chapter book reads from 2014. (Not all of these books came out in 2014, but all eighty-one MG and CB titles I read for the first time this year were contenders.) Five are highlighted here–the five with (sometimes small) elements of fantasy–and the […]

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Kids holding open books

How to Start a Book Club for Kids

A couple of years ago, I asked the faculty at my kids’ elementary school what they hoped their future classes would do over the summer. Every single one of them said these words, or a slight variation:Read, Read, Read!For some kids, this means handing them a library card or pointing them to the bookcase and […]

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