At the last 5th grade book group meeting, we discussed E. Nesbit’s Five Children and It.  Without a doubt, this was our best book discussion ever, and I give all the credit for that to the kids in the group. 

About half of our discussion progressed in the usual way, sharing what each of us liked and disliked about the book, trying to figure out anything that puzzled us along the way, and such.  But then one of the kids reminded me that I had mentioned that J.K. Rowling specifically talks about E. Nesbit as being one of the authors who has influenced her the most.  “Why is that?” asked all of the kids.

So I read aloud a quote I had found from J.K. Rowling, which states that Rowling feels more connection with Nesbit than with any other author.  As a group, we tried to figure out why Rowling would say that.  One kid suggested that they both write fantasy, and we all agreed that was true, but that there must be more of a connection between the two writers for Rowling to say what she did. 

Eventually, we teased out that Nesbit’s fantasy takes place in the real world, and is experienced by only a few chosen characters, and that Rowling’s wizards coexist with unknowing muggles in a world that is real aside from the fantasical elements.  Everyone was fully involved in this discussion, and it was engaging, quick-paced, and certainly opened my eyes to an aspect of both Nesbit’s and Rowling’s books that I had never consciously thought about before.

Midway through this conversation, M. exclaimed loudly, “This is SO cool!!  I wish our book groups at school could be like this!!!!” 

Which was so cool for me – because I love these book group discussions, and it’s so rewarding to know that the kids do, too.