Mothers and Daughters Talk Books

Tonight was a very special night for me because I did a little talk at Montreal's Jewish PublicLibrary for their Mother-Daughter Book Discussion Club. Like many women, I have a great interest in mothers and daughters! I'm lucky to have a mother who lives in Montreal, too -- and this weekend, I got to visit my daughter who moved to New York a little over a year ago. I miss that girl so much it makes my heart ache -- and tonight, I have to admit I got a little weepy seeing all those lucky moms and their bright beautiful girls!

The evening was organized by children's librarian extraordinaire Penny Fransblow (that's her in the pink sweater in today's pic). Penny runs the Mother-Daughter Book Discussion Club and because this was the first meeting of the year, I saw firsthand how good she is at making people comfortable. She began the evening by asking every girl in the group to say what she loved about her mom -- and then the moms got a turn to say what they loved about their daughters (this was when I got a little weepy!).

It was one of the mom's birthdays and she said, "This mother-daughter book club is the best present I could have." In her opening comments, Penny jokingly told the girls, "As you get older, you get smarter and your mummy gets dumber!" But Penny, who has a daughter too, knows that literature can help moms and daughters connect. Here's what a mom who participated in one of Penny's previous clubs told her: "Reading books together gives you a common viewpoint."

So if she's nearby, go give your mom a hug -- and wherever the two of you are, plan to read and discuss a book together. It was great to meet the moms and girls in this year's JPL Mother-Daughter Book Discussion Club. Something tells me you're going to have an amazing year together! If you can, drop me a line and let me know how things are going!