FernFolio

The Boys’ and Girls’ Book Clubs have finished reading their first books of the year, The Thief Lord and Inkheart, both by German children’s author extraordinaire Cornelia Funke. Book Club members have discussed characters, located secret villages and abandoned theatres using Google Map, explored a wide range of themes, and tried to find answers to some of life’s big questions. Are books important, or it is the stories that they contain? Can one be too wrapped up in the words on the page? How does one respond when someone you love is threatened by evil? What is the true nature and value of family? Is there a perfect age? If you could, would you want to know how your story ends? The two Book Clubs will be holding end-of-book celebrations, before beginning a new reading adventure, tackling the ten novels recommended for the Silver Birch Fiction prize.

Since many members of the Intermediate Book Club are also involved in other school activities, and find it hard to attend every meeting, we decided this year to create a virtual meeting place in which to introduce, discuss and celebrate books. Accessible to Intermediate Book Club members only, the book club wiki features member-created pages about Chanda’s Wars, The Mysterious Benedict Society, the Twilight Series and more. Beginning in January, members will be reading the ten novels nominated for the Red Maple prize. I am certain readers will have plenty to say about the nominated books!

Students in Kindergarten and Grades 1, 2 and 3 are finishing a 6-month study of the Inuit and Canada’s North. Since May, we have read and enjoyed alphabet books, information texts, biographies of Inuit artists, legends and folktales, and picture storybooks. We have learned about the Inuit of long ago and discovered how life has changed in the North during the past 100 years. We have seen the Northern Lights on YouTube, and worked together to try and free Michael Kusugak’s Allashua, after she was hidden by the Irjiraq, a hide-and-seek creature of Inuit legend. Children are now creating pages of their thoughts and reflections about the Inuit and Canada’s far North for a school book in honour of the 10th anniversary of the creation of Nunavut. My reflections? I admire how the Inuit believe that every animate and inanimate thing has a soul, and therefore must be treated with respect. I admire a culture that respects their elders and listens for the wisdom in stories. I hope, one day, to sleep in an igloo, and to stand in the Arctic winter night and see the spirits of the dead dancing in the Northern Lights.

I was asked recently to think about books that promote and celebrate sharing as we launch our yearly Food Drive. Here are some wonderful stories to read and discuss together. May all of you know the joy of sharing what you have with others!
Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn
The Golden Rule by Ilene Cooper
Bagels from Benny, and Bone Button Borscht by Aubrey Davis
Red Parka Mary by Peter Eyvindson
The Christmas Orange by Don Gilmor
If the World Were a Village by David J. Smith
The Hard-Times Jar by Ethel Footman Smothers

FernFolio Editor