FREE book club kit for The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place {VIDEOS}

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series makes an amazing book club pick for kids. Read it aloud as a family and then print off the free discussion questions to have an amazing conversation over dinner.

Now that we are homeschooling Little Pea this year, I wanted to give her the chance to meet some new friends. What better way to get to know other people than over a shared book?

We recently hosted our first book club for kids at our house and invited some fellow homeschool families to join us in a discussion of the first book in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series. Little Pea and I had so much fun with this book together, I wanted to share our party tips with you.

Even if you don't homeschool, you could host a weekend book club with your kids' friends or just use this as a fun activity for you to do as a family over dinner.

Don't miss these all the fun extension activities I've collected for you in the post below:

• A description of the book and why your family needs to read it together
• A FREE kid-friendly discussion guide with questions that will get your kids laughing
• A link to the Kahoot game I created for the book club party
• A fun book trailer video you can watch together before reading
• A video interview with the author Maryrose Wood
• Lesson plans in case you want to use the book for classroom lessons
• A dance instruction video for the schottische (read the book, you'll understand!)

Why should you read The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place with your family?

From Amazon's description of The Mysterious Howling:

"Discovered in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children. Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. A recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position. Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must eliminate their canine tendencies.

But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these three wild creatures? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to civilize the Incorrigibles in time for Lady Constance's holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische?

The first book in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place—the acclaimed and hilarious Victorian mystery series by Maryrose Wood, perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Trenton Lee Stewart—has a brand-new look."

You should read The Incorrigible Children series with your kids if:

• You want a great beginner mystery for your kids.
• You want a fun way to seriously expand your vocabulary.
• Your children enjoy animals and adventure.
• You struggle with teaching your children manners.
• You're a first-year homeschooling family like we are. I connected with Ms. Lumley, the governess, on a whole new level!

Get your copy of the book here.

Discussion questions for The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place:

Once you've enjoyed the story together, take that experience further with some very well planned discussion questions. I wrote this discussion guide to help encourage kids to connect with the story on a very personal level. 

At our book club party, we printed the questions and cut them into individual strips of paper. I folded each question and put them in a discussion jar. The kids took turns pulling a question and reading it for everyone to answer. It was a HUGE hit. You could easily do this at the dinner table if you don't want to host a whole party.

Download the free printable kid-friendly Mysterious Howling discussion questions here.

To arrange for our book club party, I just did a few simple things:

1. Printed and prepared the discussion questions jar.
2. Set up a fun trivia game, keep reading to get the link and instructions.
3. Set out a few fresh baked treats for the guests.

Seriously, that's it! Hosting a book club for kids doesn't have to be difficult or involved.

Get your copy of the book here.

Here are some fun things for you to use:

Trivia Game for The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place:

Have you ever played Kahoot with your kids? My middle schooler's teachers have been using these for years and I finally discovered how fun they are during a library event this summer.

I wrote the questions for the trivia game to focus specifically on the fun phrases introduced in the book and there are no spoilers. This game is great for playing with people who may not have completely finished the book yet.

I streamed the game to our living room television and then our book club guests were able to join the game using their cell phones. They select their answer to each question with a tap on their phone and then the main screen tallies who gets it right or wrong. 

Play the Book Club Kahoot Game for free here.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Book Trailer:

This book trailer video would be a fun way to introduce the book to your kids before you begin reading it.

StoryMakers Interview with Maryrose Wood, the author of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place:

Once you've enjoyed the book, this is a great way to meet the author and get some insight to her inspiration for the story:

Lesson Plans for Academic Use:

Harper Collins created a discussion guide and extension activities that would be appropriate for older children. You can find the full document here.

Learn how to do the schottische:

With mixed company of both boys & girls at our book club party and with limited living room space, we skipped this fun idea. But, the schottische has a big plot point in the book so learning how to do the dance steps with your family would be SO fun.