Arts & Entertainment
Connect Through Reading
Former Hillel Day School librarian starts intergenerational
book club for grandparents and their grandkids.
Alice Burdick Schweiger
Special to the Jewish News
Ann Arbor
I
f you think book clubs are just for
grownups, think again.
Linda Grekin of Ann Arbor has
created Grandma's Book Club for children
and their grandparents — though aunts,
uncles, friends and/or parents are welcome
to join.
The concept is similar to thousands
of adult book clubs around the country
— read a story and talk about it.
Grekin has chosen books, by a variety of
children's authors, geared for kindergar-
teners through second-graders, who then
discuss the content with grandma and
grandpa.
"I started this book club as a way for
grandparents to connect with their grand-
children and foster a love of reading and
learning," says Grekin, who has four grand-
daughters under age 9. "I picked discussable,
age appropriate books with gripping, fun
stories — most are beautifully illustrated:'
Grekin has created a pamphlet with
language arts, math, science and social
rat
studies activities for each book, as well
as a sheet of talking points. Her current
inventory includes six books each for kin-
dergarteners and first-graders and five for
second-graders.
"The hopes are that my activities will lead
to creative thinking and push the child to be
curious about how the world works, human
behavior and different cultures," says Grekin,
who likes to pick lesser-known books.
Grandma's Book Club works like this:
The grandparent gets the book and
reads it alone first, then to the child. Next,
grandparent and grandchild begin doing
the suggested activities together.
If the grandparent lives out of town, she
or he will mail the book and its accompa-
nying activity booklet to the child, whose
parents or caregiver will read it and intro-
duce the activities to the child.
"There are many places in the activity
booklets where it says to call and ask your
grandma what she thinks, or draw a picture
and send it," explains Grekin. "The grand-
parent, in person or on the phone, keeps the
talking tips sheet as a reference guide.
"Some grandparents have been reading
and discussing the book via Skype," a soft-
ware application that allows users to make
Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
& A Movie
im A Chinese
slew of new movies await you in
co
theaters this weekend. Here are sev-
eral with Jewish connections set to
open on Christmas Day.
U
Director-writer
Nancy Meyers, 60,
directs Meryl Streep,
Alec Baldwin and
Steve Martin in her
new romantic corn-
edy, It's Complicated.
Jane (Streep)
,-
Nancy Meyers
and Jake (Baldwin)
have been amicably
divorced for 10 years and have three
grown kids. Jane and Jake meet up
at their son's college graduation and
begin an affair.
The complications: Jake is married
to a much younger woman, and Adam
(Martin), an architect working for
Jane, is falling in love with her.
Nine, a musical directed by Rob
Marshall (Chicago), is based on the hit
Z
30
December 24 • 2009
1982 Broadway musical of the same
name featuring words and music by
Maury Yeston, 64, the son of a can-
tor. The story of Nine is taken from
the 1963 Fellini film, 8 1/2. The story
centers on a famous Italian film
director, Guido Contini (Daniel Day-
Lewis, 52), balancing the numerous
women in his life. Playing the women
is an all-star cast
that includes Nicole
Kidman, Penelope
Cruz, Kate Hudson,
Judi Dench and
Sophia Loren.
Opening Dec. 23
was the critical hit
Kate Hudson
Up in the Air, featur-
ing scenes filmed in
Detroit and already
receiving much Oscar
buzz. Director and
co-writer Jason
Reitman, 32, has
shown in his two pre-
vious hits, Thank You
Jason
for Smoking (about
Reitman
the tobacco lobby)
telephone calls over the Internet and see
one another via the computer's built-in or
auxiliary camera.
In addition, book club members can
access the book club's special Web pages.
By clicking on the book title, they will be
directed to music, pictures and videos that
enrich the concepts in the book being read
and discussed.
Grekin, 66, a Mumford High School
graduate, earned bachelor's and master's
degrees from the University of Michigan.
A school librarian at Hillel Day School in
Farmington Hills for 11 years, she came up
with the idea of the intergenerational book
club after retiring last year.
"I was trying to think of what to do
next. I thought about my interests — kids,
books and education:' she says. "I thought
about one of my granddaughters, who lives
in Indiana.
"While we have bonded emotionally, I
found it hard to talk about important things
with her over the phone. After 'hello' and
`how are you, there was silence. I knew one
of the best things to talk about was a book
— so Grandma's Book Club was born."
Grekin, a member of Temple Beth Emeth
in Ann Arbor, says that while she didn't
and Juno (a teenage pregnancy), that
he has a great talent for deftly weav-
ing humor into a movie about a seri-
ous subject.
His father, film director Ivan
Reitman, 63, recently said of his son:
"One of the greatest pleasures for me
as a dad and as a film professional of
35 years is to watch him come along. I
think it a rare thing to be blessed with
children who follow in your footsteps
and really do better."
Air stars George
Clooney as Ryan
Bingham, a corporate
downsizing expert
who travels around
the county firing peo-
ple. Danny McBride
Danny
(Pineapple Express),
McBride
32, has a supporting
role as Ryan's sister's fiance.
Kennedy Honors
Each year, the Kennedy Center in
Washington, D.C., holds a gala tribute
honoring five artists for their lifetime
achievement. The event was held ear-
Linda Grekin reads to her 8-year-old
neighbor, Nadia Hansen.
choose Jewish-themed books, all the selec-
tions have basic Jewish values.
"There is one called The Teddy Bear,
by David McPhail, about a little boy who
gives the teddy bear he loves to a homeless
man, and it can be used as an example of a
mitzvah," says Grekin, who will be adding
books for preschoolers.
She hopes her club can help create deep,
lasting and meaningful relationships
between grandparents and their grandchil-
dren.
"I hope these discussions will create a
strong emotional and intellectual bond
between the child and grandparents, and
the activities will help promote a love of
reading and learning." I I
For more information, go to www.
grandmasbookclub.com or e-mail
books@grandmasbookclub.com .
lier this month and will be broadcast
on CBS 9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 29.
This year's award
recipients are Robert
DeNiro, Mel Brooks,
Bruce Springsteen,
opera soprano
Grace Bumbry and
jazz musician Dave
Brubeck.
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks, 83,
was feted from the stage by Jack
Black, who performed an excerpt
from Men in Tights, and by Harry
Connick Jr., who sang "High Anxiety."
Mark Morrison, of the TV show Glee,
sang "Springtime for Hitler."
President Obama hosted a White
House reception for the recipients
just before the gala.
He said of Brooks: "There was
a method to Brooks' madness. By
illuminating uncomfortable truths
– about racism and sexism and anti-
Semitism, he's been called 'our jester,'
asking us to see ourselves as we
really are, determined that we laugh
ourselves sane."