January Mother Daughter Book Club -- The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

Our first mother daughter book club of 2011 was eventful as always. However, after having two months off, I was expecting the girls to be bouncing off the walls -- their calm demeanor surprised me.  I think it must have something to do with the cold weather!

We discussed The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry, a satirical homage to vintage children's literature -- filled with abandoned babies in baskets, nannies, orphans, long-lost children and neglectful parents.  Ms. Lowry does a masterful job of creating these characters and a story with enough adult humor to keep parents in a tickle, all the while entertaining young reader.  Additionally, the vocabulary she uses is fantastic!  She includes a dictionary in the back of the book (thankfully!) with her very own witty descriptions of each word.  In fact, I liked that as  much as the book itself!

I'm always curious as to what "theme" the girls will focus on during their discussion -- because I'm usually wrong!  I thought for sure they would discuss the neglect and "meanness" of the parents -- leaving them alone with a nannie and in a house they have put up for sale.  No, they were far more concerned about "Baby Ruth" the infant left left on the doorstep.  Given the same circumstance, none of them wanted a baby  left on THEIR doorstep, but were thankful that someone took care of this baby.

This was a book that both moms and daughters enjoyed. 

Up for February:

We decided to chose a book for Black History Month -- and had two choices:

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

And

Washington City is Burning by Harriette Gillem Robinet

We chose the later, but after some research (that I should have done in advance) we realized that very few copies exist in the library, and the book is out of print.

So, I'm not sure what we are reading next month -- anyone have suggestions for a good juvenile book to read for Black History Month?