November Grades 3-4 Book Club: A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

For November's Grades 3-4 Book Club, we read A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. Cadence, Cameron, Camilla, Clare, Eloise, Ellie, Isabella and Jane were present. These are some questions that Scholastic.com recommended we discuss:

Felicity says that her mother’s storytelling voice is “like something between a summer breeze and a lullaby” (p. 2). How can someone’s voice help him or her tell a good story?

-It's always good when they use a voice that is appropriate to the story you are telling.
-If you are telling a sad story, you should use a sad voice. In a creepy story, you need to use a less-enthusiastic voice.

The people of Midnight Gulch possess different types of magic. What kind of magic would you want to have? Why?

-I would like to have shrinking magic and make food come out of nowhere so that I don't have to ask my mom for food. And make money pop up.
-Bringing things back from the dead but so that they don't look or act possessed.
-I want to change my hair to any color.
-I want to be able to run as fast as I want and make everyone else run slow.
-I would have super-speed.
-Flying powers.
-When I snap, things will fall from the sky.
-Invisibility.
-I have all the superpowers.   
-Taking over the world. I can order people to be my friends.  

Words are very important to Felicity. What are your three favorite words? What do these words make you think of?

-Spindilly (a spin with flying powers), skateboard,
-360, spindiddly, Jane
-Cupcakes, cookies, ice cream (they make me think of sugar)
-Sugar, ridiculous, me
-Spy, home, supercalafragaliciousexpeolodociuos

Felicity and her family move frequently. What do you think are some positive things about moving? What are some negative things? What words do you associate with “home”?

-Negative: leaving your friends behind
-Positive: if you didn't like the place you were living in before
-Negative: leaving your family behind
-Negative: not being able to sell your house
   

Can you think of anyone in your life who would need help from the Beedle? How could the Beedle make a difference?

-My dad could use help from the Beedle.
-Cleo needs help to stop smoking because she could get really sick and die.
-My dad because he works all the time.
-My grandma.

Felicity’s mother shares “a truth that feels so good, it’s like you hugged the summer sunshine” (p. 263). Describe your own factofabulous memory.

-Going to Alaska.
-Going to London.
-I like going to California and hanging out with my friends. I really love Connecticut.
-Going to Connecticut. Went to a skate spot and it started snowing. We kept skating though.
-Going to the Catskills.
-Going to Disneyland.
-Me and my dad hanging out in preschool.
-When I was in Vermont, my friend Miles and my sister Virginia trapped me in a box with a lid on it.
-Going to Washington, DC.
 

Felicity loves to collects words about people. Choose three words that best describe you. What would these words look like to Felicity?

-Cool with a backwards hat and a Volcom's stone. Cool, radical, skaterat
-Spy (blackish, darkish), weird (rainbows), generous
-Energetic (speed lines from cartoons with flags), awesome (bright red and block letters), and (just regular)
-Awesome (ice cream), reader (looks like books with wings), family (my family)
-Family (people), awesome (cats), nice (partly)
-Crazy (a person shaking their sillies out), loud (lines coming out of someone's mouth), the coolest person in the world (me)

Cleo says, “Only fools run away from what they fear” (p. 268). Do you think this is true? Why or why not?

-Felicity's mother is a fool because she runs away.
-I run away from spiders but I'm not foolish.

Ranking the book from 1-5, with 5 being the best: 

2-There was one 2
4-There were three 4s
5-There were four 4s  
 

December's Book Club will be meeting on Wednesday, December 9 at 3:00 p.m. We will be reading  Jack: The True Story of Jack & the Beanstalk by Liesl Shurtliff

All his life, Jack has longed for an adventure, so when giants turn up in the neighbor's cabbage patch, he is thrilled! Soon Jack is chasing them to a land beyond the clouds, with his little sister, Annabella, in tow. The kingdom of giants is full of super-sized fun: puddings to swim in, spoons to use as catapults, monster toads to carry off pesky little sisters. . . . 

But Jack and Annabella are on a mission. The king of the giants has taken something that belongs to them, and they’ll do anything—even dive into a smelly tureen of green bean soup—to get it back.

Please be sure to sign up for Book Club at the Circulation Desk so that Miss Lisa knows how many snacks to buy for the group!