Book Club in a Bag: Two Truths and a Lie

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, a non-fiction addition: Two Truths and a Lie by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson.

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

Two Truths and a Lie Kit

The Two Truths and a Lie 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 Two Truths and a Lie 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.

Two Truths and a Lie General Materials

Each bag contains some of the same basic materials, and the Two Truths and a Lie 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 Tristan Strong readalikes bookmark features these titles:

• Brain Games: The Mind-Blowing Science of Your Amazing Brain by Jennifer Swanson
• Brains on! Presents…It’s Alive by Molly Bloom
• Every Second by Bruno Gibert
• Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots by Michael Rex
• Food Fight! by Tanya Steel
• History’s Mysteries: Curious Clues, Cold Cases, and Puzzles from the Past by Kitson Jazynka
• How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg
• Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: Beyond the Bizarre by Ripley Entertainment
• Sharks vs. Sloths by Julie Beer
• Solve This!: Wild and Wacky Challenges by Joan Marie Galat
• Under Your Feet by Jackie Stroud
• What Breathes Through Its Butt? by Emily Grossman

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

The Two Truths and a Lie Discussion Questions included:

• Look carefully at each story. What is the subject?
• What part of each story feels like it might be a lie? Why?
• What parts of the story do you need to verify or get more information?
• Where can you find more about the story’s subject? What sources will you use to fact check?
• Read through a set of three stories. Which do you think is the lie? Why? Check your guess. Were you correct?
• After learning which story is the lie, return to it. What did the authors do to make the story sound so realistic?
• If writers can make something feel real, how do we know the information we read is true?

This bag also included a magnifying glass.

Two Truths and a Lie Crafts, Games, and More

Create your own Two Truths and a Lie chapter with this activity book. It provides space for three stories — A, B, and C — which they can then offer to someone else to guess which is the lie.

Slideshare not working? Download the activity book here.

The kit also included a Two Truths and a Lie research BINGO, encouraging participants to do their own research to discover whether some fun statements are truths or lies.

Slideshare not working? Download the BINGO here.

Finally, the kit included the Two Truths and a Lie STEM card game, available here.