One of our favorite things about summer break is filling each day with reading, drawing, crafting and adventuring. In 2024, we selected nine stories filled with beautiful illustrations and engaging stories for our Summer Reading Book Club. Laid out like a Waldorf lesson, our book study spanned three days. On day one, we read and discussed the book with discussion questions that served as a jumping off point to see what resonated with your children. Day two we invited you to revisit the story and retell it together, using our drawing or writing prompts to further explore the themes of the story. On the third and final day, we wrapped up the week with a craft tutorial.
Here is the overview of 2024 Book Club and below is a list of all of our weekly blogs filled with discussion prompts and craft activities!
Week 1 of 2024 Summer Book Club
For our first week, we read one of our Bella Luna Toys favorites, Backyard Fairies written and illustrated by Phoebe Wahl, a book that reveals all of the magic of fairies hidden in plain site and waiting to be discovered! We talked about fairies and then crafted a cardboard garden fairy to bring on all of our summer adventures.
Week 2 of 2024 Summer Book Club
For the second week of book club, we read a Waldorf classic written by Elsa Beskow, The Sun Egg, a heartwarming tale of a mysterious orange orb that appears in the forest confounding all of the elves and animals. To honor the brightness of the sun egg, we made beautiful orange peel beeswax candles to celebrate the brightness of the sun.
Week 3 of 2024 Summer Book Club
For the third week of book club, we fluttered and flitted with another Waldorf classic, written and illustrated by Sibylle von Olfers, The Story of the Butterfly Children. The butterfly children dance, sing, and play all day long in the far away kingdom of beautiful gardens and to honor their magical movements, we created and decorated recycled butterfly wings!
Week 4 of 2024 Summer Book Club
For week four, we had our heads in the clouds with a delightful story written and illustrated by the Fan Brothers called Lizzy and the Cloud. This poignant story follows Lizzy as she tries to take care of her rapidly growing and changing pet cloud and the hard decisions of letting go. We were able to hold on to the clouds as we sewed a puffy cloud pillow complete with rainbow ribbons.
Week 5 of 2024 Summer Book Club
For week five, we headed out to the trees and celebrated the remarkable life of Katherine Olivia Sessions, also known as The Tree Lady. We learned all about how this wise and brave woman transformed San Diego from a dry desert town into the tree covered and lush city it is now. Then we painted a terracotta pot and planted our own tiny tree.
Week 6 of 2024 Summer Book Club
On week seven, we roared with the dragons in a beautiful Caldecott award-winning tale, The Truth About Dragons. Guided by his two grandmothers, the boy in this magical story uncovers two unique and mesmerizing truths about dragons. After reading, we crafted our own magical finger-knitted wool dragon puppets.
Week 7 of 2024 Summer Book Club
On week eight, we buzzed like the bees and learned all about what makes honeybees so incredibly hardworking and amazing. We read the beautifully illustrated book called The Honeybee and followed along with the busy bees taking in their amazing journeys. We wrapped it up with a clay honeybee necklace to remind us of all the work the bees do to keep the world blooming.
Week 8 of 2024 Summer Book Club
On week eight, we explored the mighty mushroom world by reading another Waldorf classic, The Tales of the Mushroom Folk. We met the different mushroom families and learned what makes them special through a series of charming tales and then crafted our very own treasured mushroom peg dolls
Week 9 of 2024 Summer Book Club
On our last week, we headed to A Home in the Woods, where we followed a big family who during the Great Depression turned a tiny tar shack into a true home–warm, bright, and filled up with love. And to honor their resourcefulness we sewed our own traditional patchwork tote bag to carry our own family treasures in.
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