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Read a review of our first Mother-Daughter book club meeting
Read a review of our second Mother-Daughter book club meeting
Participating in a Mother-Daughter book club can be a rewarding experience. Here's why...
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sharing quality time with each other through reading.
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provides the opportunity for mothers to develop a true bond with daughters – by sharing ideas about the books’ contents and messages.
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provides a safe environment for your daughter to share thoughts, fears, problems, and not feel judged or alone.
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ability to get to know ideas and opinions of peers.
Here are a few pointers to help you start your own club...
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Seek out other mothers who have the same desires and interests regarding their daughters.
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We found these two books by Shireen Dodson were invaluable in helping us set up and run our club...
The Mother-Daughter Book Club
100 Books for Girls to Grow On
This second book lists 100 books by title, including a brief summary of the book, followed by discussion questions and several related activities. Get a copy of both books. Click either title to read a review.
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Select 5 titles that would be appropriate to the age group. Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary was our first choice for a group of 8-9 year olds – a good ice breaker.
Choose a day, time and place that suits everyone. We planned on 2 hours for the first meeting to be held at the "leader’s" home.
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Have everyone purchase the book and read it together, mother and daughter. Prepare to discuss the questions and participate in the activities.
More about our club...
Our Mother-Daughter book club is based in central PA and is comprised of 6 mothers and daughters. The mothers range in age from 30 to 45 and the daughters are all 8 to 9 years old.
Click here for a review of what went on during our second meeting, including dress designs and... dessert!
Click here for a review of what went on during our third meeting, including angel drawings and... what else - dessert!
Click here for a review of what went on during our fourth meeting, including magic tricks!
Click here for a review of what went on during our next meeting, including discussion about fathers.
Following are the 5 books that we've chosen to start with. Click each for an Amazon.com review.
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Notes from our first meeting...
The meeting began at 10:00 a.m. As the guests arrived, my daughter received them at the door with a warm welcome. This took approximately 15 minutes - more time than I had planned. Our first book to be read for discussion was Ramona The Pest by Beverly Cleary.
Our planned agenda was as follows: A "show and tell" segment of the discussion - Ramona was in kindergarten and had frequent show and tell sessions; a "Who’s Who?" quiz using baby/youth snapshots of both daughter and mother; and a "sandwich contest" featuring yummy creations by the daughters. (Ramona always ate the same sandwich and longed for something new.)
After making our round of introductions, the girls proceeded with the show and tell portion. They introduced their "favorite" things and explained why they were so important to them. Most of the girls brought either a stuffed animal or a doll. This turned out to be a great icebreaker!
Next was the "Who's Who?" quiz. The snapshots were attached to a large poster board and numbered. Each daughter identified themselves and had the others guess the identity of their mother. We had a lot of fun with this. This quiz segment lasted about 20 minutes.
Then we began the discussion. Each mother selected a question from the handbook and asked it of the girls. They took turns answering in their own words. After each mother had asked a question, approximately 40 minutes had elapsed. At that time, it seemed the girls needed a break.
We proceeded to the "sandwich contest" where each child presented a sample to all the others for tasting. The sandwiches had been numbered upon their arrival at the meeting. Some of the creative names the girls devised were "Chocolate Chip Deluxe, Tuna Twist, Salad Sandwich and Strawberry Marshmallow Mix. After all six sandwiches had been tasted, the girls themselves chose the winner. We had them put their heads down and raised their hand for their favorite sandwich choice. Surprisingly, the Salad Sandwich was the "hands-up" winner. The winner received a loaf of bread! As host, I also gave the girls a jar of my homemade preserves – they were most appreciative. The sandwich contest took about 20 minutes.
Snacks served next at the meeting were chocolate chip cookies and beverages (The manual suggested a "comfort" food be served). However, due to the sweet and gooey nature of some of the sandwich contest entries, there was little room left for additional sweets. The cookies were divided among the girls for them to take home.
At this point the daughters spent some time in play while the mothers decided when and where the next meeting would be held. We had decided that a different mother/daughter team would lead each meeting. They would be responsible for discussion questions, related activities and choice of snack. The second book selection had already been decided upon – The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. Copies were distributed at the end of the meeting.
The book we read was The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. This book was selected because we mothers felt the girls were either experiencing, or on the verge of experiencing, peer pressure – a topic we’re all familiar with. It also covered the topic of judgment of others who are less fortunate.
While the book itself was not a huge success – no one was happy with the ending – the discussions that ensued were highly popular. The girls took turns sharing situations where they personally felt the effects of peer pressure. The mothers likewise shared situations from their pasts. For the first time, the word "popular" was brought out by many of the girls to the surprise of the mothers.
We decided to start this meeting out with free time for the girls. They proceeded to play and expend some energy. Our hope was they would be more willing to sit and share if they were allowed to be active first. It proved to be successful.
Since the main character liked to draw and design dresses, we chose to do the same. The daughters drew dresses they think their mothers would wear, and mothers drew dresses they thought would look nice on their daughters. We discovered we had some budding artists among us. And everyone was very impressed with the selection chosen for her.
Because the meeting was after dinnertime, each girl brought a dessert item to be shared.
Finally, we all contributed an article of clothing that we donated to our local women’s shelter.
Our schedules allow us to meet after dinner which seems to suit everyone better than meeting on the weekend. We continue to meet on a monthly basis because we are still able to complete a book on a timely basis. This may change as the girls mature and their reading selections become more lengthy.
This book was enjoyed by everyone. It started out as an adventure, but he children’s obsession with a certain piece of art turned into a mystery to be solved. The answers would come from the former owner of the piece of art – Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. While no one would admit to having considering running away as a child, it was interesting to follow the characters through their adventure and subsequent homecoming.
We would recommend reading the book for many reasons. Ms. Konigsburg’s writing style was descriptive without being tedious. It was easy to put ourselves in the shoes of the characters - we felt like we were right there with them. Also, no harm came to the characters (which is important to our group of girls) and they had an unbelievable experience in a magical place filled with beauty and culture. The two main characters displayed immense courage and were always resourceful – positive qualities in children. It was a great introduction to or expansion of their awareness of the world of art (book includes a layout of the inside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art).
Younger brother was “rich” – saved all his pennies – and would be good at budgeting their money. This fact helped prompt discussion on the value of money, allowances and savings accounts.
The girls each drew a picture of what they thought Michelangelo’s Angel might look like. We had some very creative images. In addition, each girl was invited to bring along a favorite piece of artwork to share with the group – when it was completed, what it meant to the girl.
We also discussed museum visits and favorite artists.
Because it was after dinner, we had a “create your own” sundae party. That was a huge success.
This book was fun and light-hearted, but not a favorite. It was a fantasy – which is not a bad thing – but did not lend itself to extensive discussion. We had to create our own discussion topics.
The main characters were four children from the same family who discovered a magic coin capable of granting wishes. We all enjoyed the dilemmas the children got themselves into because the coin was only half magic. This initially caused them to be put in some messy situations until they learned to be creative when making their wishes.
Our fun activity was to perform a magic trick (with or without the aid of mother). Card tricks were most popular. We had some laughs at tricks gone awry.
Questions we discussed:
What would you wish for if you had the magic charm?
Which characters shoes would you rather be in and why?
What did you think about the relationship the children had with their mother? Moms were asked what kind of relationship they had with their moms when they were growing up and how they have changed with their own children. Girls were asked what kind of relationship they have with their moms?
Of all the historical settings traveled to in the book, which was your favorite and why?
And because things were always changing in the book, we were asked to bring a changeable food (i.e., grapes change to raisins).
The book we selected for our mext meeting was Elle Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.
This was a very deep read. The title alone prompted much thought and discussion. Because the cover of the book pictures a young girl sitting beside a beautiful dog, we all assumed the dog’s name was Marie and story was going to center around the protection of this animal. Not so.
For us the main topic was trust. The main character has a trust issue with her father for many reasons. Consequently, there was a lot of tension between her and her father. A lengthy discussion regarding our relationships with our fathers took place. Both moms and daughters contributed.
The girl is an only child and one of our members is an only child. We discussed the benefits and drawbacks of having and not having siblings. Also, she is a chronic worrier and that led to us sharing why we worry and why it’s not healthy.
The father was an artist/painter. He was very moody and difficult to live with. We talked about how our behavior affects those around us, especially our families. Further we shared ways to help others who seem upset or angry or sad – what we could do to make them feel better.
Snack has become lunch – finger sandwiches, fruit, cheese and a sweet treat. There are only three members attending at this time. We were a bit concerned that the exchange would not be quite as rewarding as with a larger group, but that is not the case. There is a great comfort in the smallness and more discussion has ensued.
