Book Club in a Bag: New Kid Kit

Take-and-make kits; craft kits; programs to go: whatever your library calls these programs in a bag that have become a staple of no-contact offerings, one thing is fairly standard: these kits are well loved, but they take time to make. I love creating materials for kits and thinking about how a family might interact with program materials at home. I’ve introduced a new pair of kits for ages 6-11 in January 2021: Book Club in a Bag. This week’s feature: New Kid by Jerry Craft.

The Book Club in a Bag kits look a bit different from some of my previous kits. Instead of focusing on just one book universe, these kits each feature four characters, hopefully some old favorites as well as some new, diverse characters.

In January, these featured characters included (links provided as the bag contents are shared on Book Cart Queens):

• Ages 6-8:
  • Elephant and Piggie (Mo Willems)
  • Mindy Kim (Lyla Lee)
  • Yasmin (Saadia Faruqi)
  • Azaleah Lane (Nikki Shannon Smith)
    
• Ages 8-11
  • Wings of Fire (Tui T. Sutherland)
  • New Kid (Jerry Craft)
  • Phoebe and Her Unicorn (Dana Simpson)
  • Shuri (Nic Stone)

Each bag contains some repeated resources:

• List of kit contents
• List of books in the featured series
• List of readalike books
• Discussion questions
• Swag item (button, sticker, bookmark)
• 1-3 crafts, games, activities

New Kid Kit

The New Kid Kit can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like. Most of this kit can be re-created simply using a printer, with the addition of extra items depending on your budget.

Want to use make a New Kid Kit at your library? Download the PDFs at the links below, or write a comment or send an email (bookcartqueens@gmail.com) for editable files.

New Kid General Materials

Each bag contains some of the same basic materials, and the New Kid kit is no different.

New Kid Bookmark – All Books

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF listing all book titles here.

New Kid Bookmark – Readalikes

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF of the Readalike titles here.

The New Kid readalike bookmark features these titles:

• American as Paneer Pie by Supriya Kelkar
• Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
• Blended by Sharon Draper
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (graphic novel)
• El Deafo by Cece Bell (graphic novel)
• A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramee
• Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
• The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert
• Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai
• This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell
• Twins by Varian Johnson & Shannon Wright (graphic novel)
• What Lane? by Torrey Maldonado

New Kid Discussion Questions

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF of the discussion questions here.

The New Kid Discussion Questions include:

• Which five words best describe New Kid?
• Why do you think Jerry Craft drew Jordan’s sketchbook drawings completely differently than the rest of the book?
• Have you ever been the new kid somewhere? How was your experience the same or different from Jordan’s?
• What makes being a new kid so challenging for Jordan?
• Jordan’s Tips for Taking the Bus (pages 56-57): Why does his behavior change—how he looks and dresses as he moves around? What is different in each panel?
• What does this book say about friendship? What makes a good friend?
• Which character do you identify with the most? Why?

New Kid Swag – Buttons

This bag also included a 2.25″ New Kid button. Download a printable PDF to make them yourself here.

New Kid Crafts, Games, and More

This particular bag only included one activity: make your own journal. Supplies included:

• Instruction Sheet (below)
• 3 sets washi tape
• 2 pieces cardstock (halves of 9 x 12 sheet, pre-punched)
• 20 pieces of printer paper (10 full sheets in half, pre-punched)
• 3 binder rings
• Colored Pencils (not pictured)

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF here.