2023 The Big Family Book Club

We’ve chosen a book everyone in the family can enjoy, wishtree by Katherine Applegate! Read the book with your family and complete activities! We will also have a party at the end of the program where we can all write letters to Katherine Applegate. All participants will receive a FREE copy of the book, a wishtree brag tag, and postcards in the mail with activities and discussion questions to guide you as you progress through the book.

Please note that you must pick up the book in person at your home library — we do not mail out the books.

Questions? Feel free to reach us at ask@mympls.org.

Registration Starts on June 1st!

Registration begins on June 1st — you can register in-person, over the phone, or through our online form. (Check back here for the registration link on June 1st!)

Registration closes on June 23rd, so be sure to register before the deadline in order to participate in The Big Family Book Club.

You must be registered to receive a FREE copy of the book, and activity postcards.

You must pick up your book in-person at any of our locations by June 30th.

*To receive postcards in the mail, you must register by June 23rd.*

The Book — wishtree by Katherine Applegate

Trees can’t tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .

Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood “wishtree”—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red’s branches. Along with a crow named Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red’s hollows, this wishtree watches over the neighborhood.

You might say Red has seen it all.

Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red’s experience as a wishtree is more important than ever.

Funny, deep, warm, and nuanced, this is Katherine Applegate at her very best—writing from the heart, and from a completely unexpected point of view.

About the Author!

Katherine Applegate is the Newbery Medal-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for young readers, including The One and Only Ivan, the Endling series, Crenshaw, Wishtree, the Roscoe Riley Rules chapter books series, and the Animorphs series.

She lives with her husband, who writes as the author Michael Grant, and their children in California.

Stay tuned for more information about our party to write letters to Katherine Applegate at the end of The Big Family Book Club!

The Big Family Book Club is supported by the Shelley A. Marshall Foundation Fund.