Birthday Party

Make personalized bookmarks:

You'll need:

• Sturdy cardboard
• Small looped tassel or ribbon
• Foam letter stickers
• Glitter glue
• Markers
• Hole puncher

To make the bookmarks:

1. Cut out the cardboard in the shape of a bookmark.
2. Make a hole in the middle of one of the short ends.
3. Have guests spell out their names in letter stickers and apply them down the center of the cardboard.
4. Next, let them decorate with glitter and markers.
5. Help them thread the tassel or ribbon through the hole and then tie it.

Snacks: Serve foods based on the theme of the book:

Finger sandwiches, sugar cookies, and apple juice served in teacups (Fancy Nancy orMiss Spider's Tea Party).

Moon squirters (tomatoes), orange twiglets (carrots), mermaid food (fishsticks), cloud fluff (mashed potatoes), and green drops (peas) based on Charlie and Lola: I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child.

Birthday Cake: A cake decorated to coordinate with the book's theme will ensure a happy ending to your child's party.

1. Bake a 13-by-9-by-2-inch cake.
2. Frost the cake in an icing color that matches the book's jacket.
3. Pipe the main characters of the book, if they are easy to replicate.
4. Or arrange appropriate figurines, small toys, candies, edible flowers and other objects on top of the cake.For example, the book, Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser, a favorite among this age group, would be well represented with a cake frosted with "fuschia" icing (that's Nancy's fancy word for purple) and adorned with edible flowers, plastic jewelry, curling ribbons and assorted candies.

Party Favors: If it's in your budget, consider giving away a copy of the book with a personalized bookplate. Or, offer small notepads, bookmarks, decorative pencils, and stickers.

Related Stories:
• How to Throw a Jewelry-Making Party
• How to Throw a Zen Celebration Party
• How to Throw a Murder Mystery Party