Our October meeting of the Reader's Studio was just a little bit different than normal. The theme was Black, White and Orange All Over, and it was the brain child of our good friend Miss Polly. Everyone who participated was asked to judge a book by its cover, choosing their title based on whether or not the cover featured one of those three colors. It could be the background or font color, the title or author, anything goes. The result was a wide spectrum of great reads:

1. Ana = Where's My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi

2. Emily = Freckle Juice by Judy Blume

3. Isabella = Fudge-a-mania by Judy Blume

4. Miss Katie Jane = Alvin Ho: Allergic to Dead Bodies, Funerals, and Other Fatal Circumstances by Lenore Look; Clementine and the Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker

5. Mary Bailey = Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

6. MaryAlyce = The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew #4)

7. Miss Polly = The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine

8. Ronnie = The Orange Outlaw by Ron Roy (A to Z Mysteries #15)

9. Sophia = The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

This month's theme helped us talk about why we choose certain books and not others. It also made us question if judging books by their covers is always a good idea. We agreed that we as people would not want to be judged based solely on our covers, but rather on what's inside of us. So, for this month's Reader Studio craft, we designed our own personal covers--top hats with pictures of some of the awesome things about each of us, whether it be talents, interests, or background.

We had three new friends at the Reader's Studio this month. Welcome to MaryAlyce, Ronnie and Sophia! And we want to keep growing. So grab a book, grab a friend and head to the Hoover Public Library for next month's Reader's Studio: Book Feast on Monday, November 13, 2011 at 6:30 pm. The theme is food, and the program is sure to be delicious fun!