The Children
Cut along the dashed lines and pass the cards around the table.
Where did you do most of your reading of this one, and did you find yourself wanting a blanket, a lamp, or a locked door?
Melissa Albert writes in a hush. Was there a single sentence or image early on that made you settle in and trust the book?
This book treats childhood as a place you can almost walk back into. What small comfort from your own childhood came back to you while reading (a smell, a snack, a particular chair)?
Albert's stories often sit right between frightening and tender. Which moments here felt oddly cozy to you even while they unsettled you?
So much of this book is about being looked after, or not being looked after. Who in your life did the quiet caretaking, and did any character here remind you of them?
The houses and interiors in this book carry a lot of feeling. Describe a real place from your life that holds that much weight, and tell us what it smelled like.
Without giving anything away, was there a point where your feeling toward a character softened or shifted? What in you moved to let that happen?
Fairy tales usually promise that someone will be saved. Thinking about the book as a whole, what kind of comfort did it finally offer you, and was it the kind you wanted?