Book Club in a Bag: Zoey & Sassafras 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: Book Club in a Bag (also known as Leap Off the Page, since we already have book club kits at our library, and the original name became confusing). This week: Zoey & Sassafras by Asia Citro.

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

• Ages 6-8
  • Narwhal and Jelly (Blen Clanton)
  • Sadiq (Siman Nuurali)
  • Pete the Cat (Eric Litwin and James Dean)
  • Zoey and Sassafras (Asia Citro)

• Ages 8-11:
  • Tristan Strong (Kwambe Mbalia)
  • Last Kids on Earth (Max Brallier)
  • Two Truths and a Lie (Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson)
  • Lumberjanes (Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Brooke Allen, Grace Ellis, Kat Leyh, Faith Erin Hicks)

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, bookmarks)
• 1-3 crafts, games, activities

Zoey & Sassafras Kit

The Zoey & Sassafras 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 (like DIY journals) depending on your budget.

Want to use make a Zoey & Sassafras 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.

Zoey & Sassafras Kit General Materials

Each bag contains some of the same basic materials, and the Zoey & Sassafras kit is no different.

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF featuring all kit activities here.

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

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF listing readalikes here.

The Zoey & Sassafras readalikes bookmark features these titles:

• Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants by Andrea Beaty
• Bo’s Magical New Friend by Rebecca Elliott
• Frankie Sparks and the Class Pet by Megan Frazer Blakemore
• Isadora Moon Gets in Trouble by Harriet Muncaster
• The Magic Day by Calliope Glass
• Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures by Jackson Pearce
• Polly Diamond and the Magic Book by Alice Kuipers
• A Prickly Problem: Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet by Jacqueline Kelly
• Problem at the Playground by Courtney Carbone
• Sasha and Puck and the Potion of Luck by Daniel Nayeri
• Snow Place Like Home by Christina Soontornvat
• Welcome to Unicorn School by Pip Bird

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

The Zoey & Sassafras Discussion Questions included:

• Who is telling the story? How do you know?
• What does Zoey learn from her first experiment?
• What is the coolest magical creature that Zoey meets? Which would you like to meet the most?
  
• Talk about Dragons and Marshmallows:
  • How did Zoey feel about being in charge of the barn and any magical creatures that might need help while her mom was away? Why do you think she felt this way?
  • Why does Zoey keep a science journal?
  • Zoey’s mom always tells her that in an experiment she needs to change just one thing and keep everything else the same. Why is it important to change just one thing?

This bag also included one swag item: a printable bookmark. I printed these on white cardstock.

Download the printable bookmark here.

Zoey & Sassafras Crafts, Games, and More

First up: make your own Sassafras! This cat craft was inspired by the headband craft from this blog. I recreated their template with a printable cardstock template with some color options to make it work in this kit.

Everything was printed on white cardstock.

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF of the craft template here.

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF of the craft instructions here.

The heart of this kit was the DIY Zoey & Sassafras science journal. I had a lot of fun designing this one–though there was more assembly involved than I initially anticipated. Each journal had a handful of opening pages and then four sets of the science journal/experiment pages, followed by some blank paper for more open-ended writing and drawing.

The cover images were printed on white cardstock, cut to size, and attached to slightly larger chipboard. Our industrial holepunch created the holes for the binder rings. The final assembly was left for the participants.

Download the instructions here:

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF here.

Download the covers here:

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF here.

Download the ready-to-print activity sheets here:

Slideshare not working? Download the PDF here.