Exploring Vietnam: Family Dinner Book Club

Our year is winding down from traveling the world through books.  This month we journey to our next destination in the Around the World Family Dinner Book Club.  Get ready to explore Vietnam.

We are also busily preparing the 2018 year of Family Dinner Book Club and all the details will be coming in November!

 

We have ideas to plan your menu, make table decoration crafts, have great conversations about the book and complete a family service project below. We have thought of everything you could need to make your dinner a success!  Get a copy of the featured book and join in on the fun.

If you are new to Family Dinner Book Club, here is a little background on the club.

Family Dinner Book Club is a monthly book club for families.

• On the first of each month, we provide all the details for your dinner.
• Sarah from Chef Sarah Elizabeth shares a themed menu to compliment the book.
• Laura from Sunny Day Family shares easy table crafts.
• And, I will share conversation starters and a service project for your family.

Please share a picture from your dinner with us anytime during the month on our Family Dinner Book Club Facebook page.  Plus, you will want to follow along there for more bonus ideas to use with the books each month.

And, if you would like to be notified when the next Family Dinner Book Club selection is ready, sign up HERE.

Now, let’s get to the details!

Exploring Vietnam

Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

The Book

Grandfather’s Dream by Holly Keller takes us to the rebuilding of the land after the Vietnam War.  A family has a dream of building dikes to welcome back the cranes. However, others in the village feel that the land would be better used for growing rice.  Will grandfather’s dream come true?

More Books

If you are looking for more books to read about Vietnam, check out these books.

[easyazon_link identifier=”1623708036″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]A Different Pond[/easyazon_link] by Bao Phi

[easyazon_link identifier=”0804844291″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]Vietnamese Children’s Favorite Stories[/easyazon_link] by Phuoc Thi Minh Tran

[easyazon_link identifier=”0152014837″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]The Lotus Seed[/easyazon_link] by Sherry Garland

[easyazon_link identifier=”0804849072″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]My First Book of Vietnamese Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Vietnamese Language and Culture[/easyazon_link] by Phuoc Thi Minh Tran

Topics

Here are six conversation starters to get your dinner dialogue started.  Just click on the link below for a one-page document that you can print and then cut apart.

Use the cards on your chosen dinner night.  You, of course, don’t have to use all of them or you may even have some other discussion points that developed while you were reading.  These are just meant to be a guide. Enjoy your dinner conversation!

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE SET OF CONVERSATION STARTERS

• Why did the cranes leave Vietnam?
• Why did the cranes return to Vietnam?
• Why did Grandfather want the cranes to return?
• Have you ever disagreed with someone over how something should be done? Tell us about it.
• Do you think your neighborhood looked different long ago?  How do you think it has changed?
• Do your grandparents like to tell stories?  Do you have a favorite?

Family Service Project

In Vietnam, cranes represent longevity. This month for your family service project, find someone who has lived a long life.  Perhaps you could invite that person over for dinner, interview the person about their life, or do a kind gesture for that person.

Activity and Menu

Now, head over to Chef Sarah Elizabeth to get this month’s menu.—>click here for the menu

Then, check out the tie-in table activity at Sunny Day Family.—>click here for painting crane activity

More Resources About Vietnam

Check out this video of images of Vietnam from My Little Nomads.

Explore these fun facts from National Geographic for Kids about Vietnam.

CLICK HERE to Get Your FREE 2017 Family Dinner Book Club Planner

Clicking on the link above will take you to a screen to enter your email address.  The planner will be emailed to you immediately.  You will also receive the weekly Growing Book by Book newsletter.

Are you ready to hold your own Family Dinner Book Club with your family? Remember that we want to see pictures of your dinner.  Please share them our special Family Dinner Book Club Facebook page.

See all the rest of the line-up for the year.—>Around the World Family Dinner Book Club Line-Up

And, join us again next month for another Family Dinner Book Club when we will travel to France and read The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson.