November was a very special book club! I super sized it and we had 10 4th grade students. They read one of our Texas Bluebonnet books, The Humming Room, by Ellen Potter. This book is especially awesome for me because I am huge fan of The Secret Garden which is the book that inspired this modern version.
Our book club kids loved this book because it is a mystery, but it is filled with great characters and drama. We had some great discussions about this book and A LOT of questions!
Fortunately, the amazing Ellen Potter agreed to do a Google Hangout with us and tell us more about her book and answer our many questions!
Our Google Hangout with Ellen was on December 18th for 30 minutes, AND another book club joined us! My good friend
and fellow librarian Shawna Ford had students from her school on as well! Her school is Curtis Elementary in Weatherford, Texas.
I loved that the kids got to ask her so many questions and learn more about the writing process. Ellen was so gracious and shared so much about how she wrote this book. Both Shawna and I were tweeting the whole time about what Ellen was sharing.
I also introduced a new book to the kids that we have in the RBE Library by Ellen Potter, called Otis Dooda. One of the reasons I bought the book was because of a mention of “poodles of mass destruction” on the back of the book. Well, turns out, Ellen Potter has some poodle puppies that are wreaking havoc at her house! (The picture below is of her poodle puppies.)
Connecting with Ellen, Shawna, and all the kids from both schools would not be possible without the connections I have made on Twitter. I am so glad for my #PLN and for great authors like Ellen Potter who are willing to connect with students!
Below are some pictures of our Google Hangout and the students in the RBE Library book club!