December Book Selection

Our December book will be Matilda by Roald Dahl! The book club will meet to discuss Matilda on Monday, December 21st at 3:30pm in the Children's Program Room. Copies of Matilda are available at the Children's Desk.

Matilda is a sweet, 5-year-old genius with horrible, mean parents. Fortunately, she has a great time giving them what they deserve. But at school things are different. At school there's Miss Trunchbull: two hundred pounds of kid-hating headmistress. Giving Miss Trunchbull what she deserves will take more than a genius...it will take a superhuman genius!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A quick note to say "Happy Thanksgiving" to all of the wonderful readers in the Book Buddies Book Club and a chance to say thank you for being such a great group of kids!

Enjoy the day off and happy eating!

November Meeting Wrap-Up

The Book Buddies Book Club met this past Monday, November 23rd to discuss the book The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. We did things a little bit differently this month - instead of talking about the book and then doing our activity, we did our activity first. Appropriately enough, in honor of our reading of The Chocolate Touch we made chocolates! The kids had a great time melting the chocolate and pouring it into different molds. We made lollipops and other individual chocolates in all different shapes and in two flavors: white chocolate and milk chocolate. The chocolate tasted delicious and really inspired our discussion of the book.

We began by talking about John and how we would describe him as a character. A few people felt that he was very greedy and selfish but others thought that he was just a regular kid. Some found him funny and nice and like a kid they might know.

We talked about John's chocolatitis and why it seemed to accelerate during the day and how it was cured. We thought about things that John learned from his experience including not to be greedy, to think about others and the importance of a balanced diet.

We discussed different foods that we wished everything tasted like including ice cream, cake and even rice! However, we all agreed that having everything taste the same, even if it's something that tastes great, is not a good thing and would get old quickly.

Finally we read the story of King Midas and compared his story to John's in The Chocolate Touch.

Overall, most club members really liked The Chocolate Touch and would recommend it to their friends. We all had a great time making (and eating) our chocolates and look forward to next month's meeting!

Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder that the Book Buddies Book Club will meet this Monday, November 23rd at 3:30pm to discuss The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling.

Have a great weekend!

King Midas

The Chocolate Touch (in which everything John's lips touch turns to chocolate) is a spoof of the greek myth about King Midas. Everything King Midas touched turned to gold. Much like John, at first King Midas was delighted with his power. But over time, he realized how horrible it really was. The children's department has a couple of books about King Midas that you might want to look at to expand your reading of The Chocolate Touch:

King Midas by Neil Philip (j292 Phi)

In ancient Greece, King Midas had the chance to ask one favor of the god Dionysus. He asked that everything he touched might turn to gold.

King Midas and the Golden Touch by Charlotte Craft (j398.2 Cra)

A king finds himself bitterly regretting the consequences of his wish that everything he touches would turn to gold.

Upcoming Children's Department Events!

The Children's Department has a variety of events taking place leading up to Thanksgiving that we'd love to see you attend:

On Tuesday, November 17th at 3:30pm food experts from Johnson & Wales Museum of Culinary Arts will present a child-friendly food program. No registration is required for this free program which will be held in the John Clarke Children's Program Room.

On Wednesday, November 18th at 3:30pm we invite you to celebrate the Native American tradition with storytelling, drumming and hands-on exploration of Native American artifacts presented by the Aquidneck Island Intertribal Indian Council. No registration is required for this free program located in the Lower Level Program Room.
And on Saturday, November 21st we hope you'll join us for a free showing of the movie Monsters vs. Aliens, rated PG. This matinee will start at 2:30pm in the Lower Level Program Room.

Family Gaming Day

To celebrate National Gaming Day, the Newport Public Library is hosting a Family Gaming Day on Saturday, November 14th from 2:30pm - 4:30pm. Children ages 6 and up and their families are invited to join us in the Lower Level Program Room and spend the afternoon playing a variety of board games including Scrabble, Chess and Pictureka (among others). We will also have a playstation video game set up.

No registration is required for this free event. For more information contact the Children's Department at 401-847-8720 ext. 204.

Hope to see you there with your game faces on!

More Sweet Reading

In The Chocolate Touch, John acquires a magical gift that turns everything his lips touch into chocolate. At first this is wonderful but overtime, he begins to see how this might not be such a great thing. For those of you (like me!) who love chocolate, here a few more sweet stories to wet your appetite...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in his own way.

Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith

From eating too much chocolate, Henry breaks out in brown bumps that help him foil some hijackers and teach him a valuable lesson about self- indulgence.

The Chocolate Cat by Sue Stainton

A clever cat helps his owner, a chocolate maker, to discover the magic in his work and together they transform a colorless town into a place of beauty and happiness.

This Book is Not Good For You by Pseudonymous Bosch

In this tooth-rotting adventure, Cass's mom has been kidnapped by the evil dessert chef and chocolatier, Señor Hugo! The ransom...the legendary tuning fork. Can Cass and Max-Ernest find the magical instrument before it's too late? Will they discover the evil secret ingredient to Señor Hugo's chocolate success?

Chocolate: A Sweet History by Sandra Markle

Complete with recipes, a guide provides an informative review of the history of chocolate by explaining where it originated, how it was originally used and by whom, how it is grown and processed, how it came to be made into tasty treats in modern times, and more.

The Many Covers of The Chocolate Touch

Like many of the books we've read, The Chocolate Touch has been published with a variety of covers. Here are just a few of the covers I was able to find. Which is your favorite? Which one does the best job of making you want to read the book? Which one is your least favorite? How would you design the cover? (Anyone who would like to submit an idea for a cover is more than welcome!)