31 Days: A Guest Post

A Tale of Two Readers

Angie reads faster than I do. I know that seems like an insignificant fact, but it a constant source of tension in the midst of our otherwise blissful marriage. She'll call me over to the couch to show me something funny on her computer or ask me to read an email before she sends it... and then she scrolls. Usually she starts scrolling before I'm halfway through the intended passage, and then she looks up and says "Oh, you weren't finished yet..."

But I know she knows. I think she's just pointing out how much faster she is.

Our differences as readers don't stop there. Angie was an avid reader as a young child while I didn't really become a pleasure reader until high school. She is tenacious with books, sticking with them even when they don't seem to live up. It is not uncommon for her to put down a book having read the last page only to say "Well that was terrible." I, on the other hand, am less loyal. Starting a book is by no means a guarantee that I will finish it, and I have been known to give up on a book mere chapters from the end.

Once I decide I like a book, though,  I am a non-repentant re-reader.  There is a small selection of my most favorite books that I read annually, often in the same season each year. The Grapes of Wrath always seems appropriate for the last few days of summer, while All Quiet on the Western Front is a winter favorite. Angie doesn't understand my need to read books over and over again and silently scoffs at my assertion that I walk away with something different each time. She prefers to spread herself around, finding new authors and genres and falling in love with new characters each time.

We are even polar opposites when it comes to what we want our books to look like. She likes her books to be pristine with stiff spines and unwrinkled dust jackets. Her bookshelves (before marrying me) were impeccably maintained in perfect alphabetical order, and each book might as well have been right off of the press. My books are what you might call world-weary. They are dog-eared and ratty with covers hanging on by threads or attached with duct tape. On the shelf, I have no problem stacking my books flat, and I am as likely to put them in alphabetical order as I am to read Jane Austin. That might be the reason she evicted my books from our front room and insisted they be housed out of site in my office.

{Can you guess which ones are mine?}

My wife and I met in a reading classroom. In the earlier parts of our relationship we would read books aloud to each other in bed at night. And we both secretly enjoy doing the voices when we read to our children. In all other areas of our life, Angie and I are not that different. We are both teachers, we  both tend a little towards being home-bodies, and we both have a deeply ingrained aversion to physical activity. As readers though, the old adage seems to be true: opposites really do attract.

Gah! I've fallen of the 31 Days Train!!!

Oh, people, people.  This is just not good.  I've fallen off the 31 Days train!  And I'm not sure if there is a way to get back on it this week.  Perhaps four-a-day postings over the weekend.  Gah!  We'll have to see if I can work this one out.

I do have these little thoughts to share though...

This is random, so bear with me.

You know how you have those facebook friends, those people from your youth...childhood...that maybe even you haven't seen since childhood, but its nice being facebook friends because you like not wondering about them?

Well, I have some of those.  A group of siblings.  We all lived on the same street growing up and I adored them.  I was such incredibly good friends with the oldest boy for several years.  I considered him to be a best friend.  We spent so many afternoons laughing and jumping on their trampoline in the back yard, playing basketball and walking around the neighborhood.  We all went to youth group together at church.  We wrote notes to each other back and forth.

And then sometime in high school we just drifted apart.  I blame driving.  Once you start to drive, your reliance on the neighborhood friends can sometimes wane.

So anyway, we've all been facebook friends for several years now and I like that.  A few years ago their mother died from breast cancer and I cried at my computer over the loss of such a wonderful lady.  She was so kind and welcomed all of us neighborhood kids into their home.  She was the same age as my mom and I couldn't believe that she had died.  It seemed so unfair.  I emailed my condolences.

I smile a little whenever I see something in my feed about them.  They're all doing ok.  And as hard as it is, life goes on.  They remind me of that.

But then on Sunday morning, I was shocked to see postings that my friend's wife had passed away.  I don't even think that shocked is the right word.  She was only 32.  I had never met this girl and it has been a good fifteen years since I have seen my friend, but I still couldn't believe the words on the screen.

I remembered so many years ago, holding my friend's hand when his high school girlfriend broke up with him.  I remember promising him that it would be ok.  He was always such a kind and sensitive soul and the enormity of what he has to be going through - to first have lost his mother and then his wife - is just too huge for me to even wrap my brain around.

On Sunday, nothing seemed right.  I felt like I was moving through jello trying to comprehend it all.  I can't even begin to imagine how he is, how his family is, dealing with this.  Unfathomable to me.

I planned my day on Sunday to put together a few blog posts in the evening {no wiww post this week, I just couldn't put it together on Sunday like I have been}...

...and then our internet went out and we didn't get it back until Monday night.

And then I was just too tired.


Have I mentioned the book fair?

It compounds the tired.

I had parents fight over a child in the middle of book fair this afternoon.  They were each pulling on an arm and the child was sobbing.  They were yelling at each other and finally they took it up to the front office.

I was heartbroken for this little girl.

Heartbroken for my friend. 

I'm thinking that I'll pick back up with my blogging at the end of the week.  I'm cutting myself some slack.  Showing myself some grace and forgiveness.  Giving myself a little time.

31 Days::: Matching Readers with Interests

Let me give you a little hint about something that took me longer (than it should have) to figure out.

You want kids to read, right?  Reading = end goal.  So let them read...without judgement.

I cringe when kids check out Captain Underpants or Goosebumps or Spongebob, Disney TV show books...cringe.  But I keep that cringe on the inside.

And to be honest, the Disney Fairies Books and High School Musical, iCarly chapter books - are usually written around a 4th grade level or so, but often appeal to younger kids...kids that watch those shows, that have the background knowledge, that can be more successful with the text because they can predict what is going to happen - they are so familiar with the characters and the outline of the shows...

I have also found that often (especially with boys) they aren't drawn to fiction.  But they like hunting and football and dirt bikes and dinosaurs and snakes and big foot.  And I have those books in the library - and they will read them.  They look for them.  They are excited about them.  And here's another secret...nonfiction (unless its a rookie reader type book) is often written at a middle school level or so.   But they have the background knowledge and the interest...

I have also found over the years that if you honor their interests and help them find what they want, they will come to trust you, to see that you care about them, they will be willing to take a risk when you make suggestions later.

I want every child to read award winning books, books that provoke great dinner conversations, books that will stay with them forever and ever...

But my true bottom line is that I really just want every child to read.  To enjoy reading. 

That's my two cents.  You can take it or leave it.  :)

31 Days:::Sweet Valley High

When I was little, I had a step sister that was 6 years older than me.  As a six year old, I had a lot of heroes, but Lindy was at the top of the list.  In my mind, there was nothing this girl couldn't do.  She was a cheerleader.  She had super cool friends.  She had the longest hair I had ever seen (aside from Crystal Gayle, of course).  She taught me how to make Barbie doll waterbeds.  She loved to play school with me.  Lindy was pretty spectacular.  I worshiped her (as I should have).

{lindy and angie circa 1982}

Before we moved to the South, Lindy came to our house every other weekend.  We shared a bedroom.  I loved telling the kids in the neighborhood that I shared a bedroom with her.  I felt that perhaps it made my cool points move up a notch or two if people knew we slept near each other.  

And one thing that she did for years in that room was lay on her bed and read.  She loved the Sweet Valley High series.  I was barely able to read and was so in awe of everything that she did anyway, so, we spent many Saturday afternoons on her bed together - she, stretched out reading, me - sitting at the foot of her bed watching her.  She wasn't reading to me, just letting me watch her read.  And this made me love her even more.

I have vivid memories of her reading this book in particular...

At the end of 2nd grade, when I was 8 and Lindy was 14, we moved to Georgia.  She stayed up north, living with her mom and brothers.  My every other weekend with her became scattered holidays and visits over the summer - ones that had to be carefully arranged because I had to visit my dad too.  

One day, when I was in the middle of 4th grade, I came home to a large box on our front porch...addressed to me. It was from Lindy.  After years of reading Sweet Valley High, she had outgrown them.  And even though she was 16 - in high school, cheerleading, having friends and boyfriends - and we lived 750 miles apart, she thought of me...her annoying little step sister who would have given anything to read one of her Sweet Valley High books...and she sent them to me...thirty of them or so.  

Those books changed the course of my life.  Really.  Not Sweet Valley itself, but the act of kindness.  The books became a thread from her life to mine.  I knew that she loved me...the box on my front porch told me so.

Not long after that,  her dad and my mom decided to get divorced and these people who I considered to be my siblings - two stepbrothers and my beloved step sister - were no longer my family.  But Lindy made sure that we kept in touch.  She wrote letters to me and I would write back to her.  We always signed our letters to each other, "Love, your sister -."  Even as a college student and a young teacher starting out, Lindy continued to call and check on me.  She made sure that we kept in touch when I was too young to know how.

Those books?  They're on my bookshelf in my front room.  I consider them to be one of the best gifts I ever received.  I see them everyday.  Everyday I am reminded of her and I am reminded of how special that box of books made me feel. 

31 Days:::Bring Me a Unicorn:::Anne Morrow Lindbergh

During the summer of 2006, I was putting the final touches on my wedding...getting ready to marry Chris - this amazing man who loved the girls and I like no one else.  I had just finished grad school.  For once, everything in my life was perfect. 

And I spent that summer (my first summer in two years that I was not a graduate student) reading the diaries and letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  Chris and I lived in a tiny house house - one where you could clean everything in a morning - and I vividly remember laying on the freshly made bed, in the freshly cleaned room with the vacuum marks still intact - the soft glow from the bedside lamp, reading these books.  At some point Chris would come into the room with a hot fudge sundae for me and I remember feeling so loved, so well cared for, as if everything in my life was finally in place. 

I loved reading memoirs and diaries, and especially loved reading these letters and diaries during that time of my life.  And I love remembering, looking back on that time period and having these books so very intricately woven into life.

Bring Me a Unicorn

Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead

Locked Rooms and Open Doors

The Flower and the Nettle

War Within and Without

31 Days::: Scary Books...for kids...

So I know I said that I hate scary, but I think there is a difference between a wonderfully crafted story that has scary elements (where the ending brings closure to all things scary) and fright fest type scary.

When I was in upper elementary/middle school, I spent a lot of time reading Christopher Pike and RL Stein (pre Goosebumps) but there was one scary book that was my favorite...

...I loved, loved, loved The Dollhouse Murders.  Seriously.  The right amount of mystery and creepy with a happy ending...absolutely perfect for my 10 year old self.  And even though this book is almost 30 years old, I still recommend to readers looking for scary and they still love it!  Betty Ren Wright is definitely one of my go-to scary authors for kids. 

My other go-to author to recommend is Mary Downing Hahn...

I first read Wait Till Helen Comes almost 10 years ago (although the book is much older than that) and having been reading her books ever since.  I just have to make sure that I have a day set aside for it so that I can start and finish in the same day (I need to resolution to the scariness before bedtime, thankyouverymuch.)

I have made sure to have these books well stocked in my libraries...and they are almost always checked out!  I love that these authors have many titles to their name - easy to hook a reader and then KEEP them reading! 

31 Days:: Halloween Stories:: Elementary School

I'll be honest, I really, really dislike Halloween.  I am a GIANT scaredy cat!  I stopped trick-or-treating when it was no longer cool for your mom to walk with you.  I think that was 4th grade maybe.  I don't like to be scared.  I don't like scary sounds.  I don't like masks.  I don't like walking my kids around because I don't like to be out in it BUT staying home is almost worse because then I feel like a sitting duck for all the scary things out there.  Big sigh.  It's a conundrum, I tell you.

BUT, I do recognize that the majority of kids LOVE Halloween, and I have come to realize that books for Halloween really grab their attention.

So, with no further ado...

Not Halloween in theme, but I usually read this one with preK students - they love the "scare the tuna salad out of him" part and they love it when Sam rattles off all the reasons why he was crying.  And, of course, I do love some Mo Willems... {Leonardo the Terrible Monster}

There Was an Old Lady That Was Not Afraid of Anything - I love that kids can participate in this story and I love the repetition!  This book is one of my favorite read alouds and I really look forward to it every year.

I Need My Monster and Jitterbug Jam are kind of reverse in nature...A child who needs the monster under his bed to go to sleep and a child monster convinced that there is a boy hiding under his bed.  Both are very cute stories.

With the older kids, I usually pick a story or two out of this oldie but goodie... {Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark} You know, the ones that I don't find to be too scary...

Did you read that book when you were a kid?  I did.  But I always had to cover the illustrations with a piece of paper.  Because that was just too much for me.  :)

31 Days::: Three Chicken Books:::Who doesn't like a chicken book?:::Great Reads for Little Ones

I mean, really, who doesn't like a good chicken book?  How can you not?  Chickens are just funny.

There's this one... The Plot Chickens {I love it for 2nd and 3rd graders, personally}  It is a little longer, but funny and ties in nicely with talking about parts of a story. 

And then there's this one... Interrupting Chicken... a silly story, one you can't help but like...

 And this one...  Chicken Big {as opposed to Chicken Little}.  I've read it with first graders at my school (and they thought it was hilarious) and at home with Quinn.  He couldn't believe how crazy the chickens were and got more and more frustrated with them.  At one point he was yelling at the book - HE"S A CHICKEN!!!  Because, you know, that helps.  :)

31 Days::: My Favorite Book of the Summer

So I was browsing through Target at the beginning of summer (ahhh...to be back at the beginning of summer) and saw this book...

...which clearly states on the cover that it is for fans of Downton Abbey.  At the time I did not watch Downton, but had heard my friend over at Four Flights talk about it and I knew that it was something I wanted to see.  So I felt like I should read this book first.

And I am so very glad that I did!

American Heiress tells the tale of a wealthy American girl in the late 1800's sent to Europe in search of the one thing she can't have in America - regardless of how much money she has - a title.

Let me just say that...
1.  This is not a great work of art.  It is not a book where I say, What am amazingly flawless work of art.  But I loved it anyway.

2.  I loved it because I found myself reading slower and slower because I didn't want for it to end.

3.  And when it did end, I mourned the characters.  I missed them. 

And then I started watching Downton on netflix and then hulu and I felt so much better equipped as a viewer.  I understood the background relationship of the time period of Cora (which also happens to be the name of the heiress in the book - but they are two completely separate characters) and Robert.

Fan of Downton?  This is one that you can't miss!

31 Days::: What do you read next?:::Young Adult Picks

So what should you read after you've read all of those popular mainstream books? 

This is the question that stumps most middle/high school kids - especially those that are reluctant readers.

{please keep in mind that my middle school list feels a little rusty to me...five years in an elem school will do that to you!}

Since Twilight hit it big, there have been a slew of other vampire books on the market.  One of my favorites has been this one...

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side The characters and story were very different from Twilight, but still had that vampire edge.  (There was also a sequel released this year!)

Looking for a strong female protagonist but not a vampire book?  I think you should try either of these...  (my middle school students loved them and both of my girls have read and loved them - and I did too!)
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Ally Carter)
Spy Goddess (Michael Spradlin)

For those older readers (middle school +), after they finish Harry Potter or The Lightning Thief, they should definitely give this series a try...

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel  I was completely entranced by the first three books in the series.

Ready for something to follow The Hunger Games?  Give Neal Shusterman's Unwind a go! 

Tomorrow I think we'll be ready for some adult reads.  While I loved reading YA with my middle school students, there were times when I felt like, I can only deal with teenage angst for so long and then I would be dying for something more adult.  Not adult, but you know, adult. 

31 Days:::There is Something to be Said for Mainstream:::Young Adult Reads

I'm pretty sure that we have all seen (if not read, or watched the movies) these book covers, right?  They grabbed the media by the horns and made national headlines.  Some of them are still making national headlines. 

And I'm ok with that. 

These are the books that have convinced children to read.  That have convinced teens that even though they are beyond going to an elementary school media center every week that it is still cool to read.

They have become part of our culture.  As a teacher, they are the books that I found to be the ones that I had to read if I was going to have any kind of credibility with my students.  If you are a parent and your child shows interest in these books, read them or read them together, or read them separately but together and talk about them on the way to school or the soccer game or in the drive thru line at McDonald's. 

I strongly believe that parents should take an active role in what their kids are reading and that you are in charge of deciding when they're ready for different mainstream books.

For us, I read the first Harry Potter book out loud to the girls over the summer in between 2nd and 3rd grades.  We snuggled up on the couch together and read.  When they visited my aunt in Chicago for a week that summer, they brought the book and she read to them.  At the end of the summer, after we had finished the book, we watched the movie.

The girls haven't read Twilight and they haven't expressed a huge desire to either.  Three years ago, I had a Twilight book club with a group of 5th grade girls in the library in the morning.  They had parent permission and teacher recommendations - would they be able to stick with a book of that length?  They had all seen the movie and were chomping at the bit to read the book.  So we read and discussed, compared it to the movie. 

Chandler was desperate to read The Hunger Games.  Chris and I had both read it several years ago and felt like she would be fine to read it.  But we saw the movie before granting permission for that - and after our viewing, we decided that she wasn't quite ready to see it live and in person.

Sometimes peer pressure is good.  Peer pressure to participate in underage drinking = bad.  Peer pressure to READ = good.

But, now here's the question...what do you do when you have finished these books?  What do you read next???

{that's coming tomorrow!}

31 Days::: Elephant and Piggie {Mo Willems}:::Great Gifts for Little Ones

The Elephant and Piggie series is a long standing favorite in our house...and in my library!  I love these books because...

1.  The text is simple - perfect for children learning to read, perfect for older children to practice fluency (reading with speed and emotion) with.  (The girls LOVE reading this series to Quinn!  And I love hearing them become better, more fluent readers!)  Their speech is in word bubbles and it is easy to distinguish who is speaking.

2.  Children get these books!  The character's thoughts and words are easily relatable to small children.  They get it!  And they LOVE that they get it!

3.  The stories are a great length!  We can usually get two in at bedtime along with a little conversation and some snuggles.  (Please tell me you've, ahem, improvised a book or two at bedtime before because it.would.never.end!  Definitely NOT the case with these!)

4.  They are funny!  We all laugh while reading Elephant and Piggie and I highly recommend reading funny stories with your kids!  Why?  Because if you're laughing, then you're having fun and reading should be fun...especially when it comes to reading with small kids. (I'm certainly not saying that the Political Science textbook that I had to read in college was fun, but I think you may have understood that!)  I love laughing with Quinn at bedtime because it helps me forget that he knocked over his milk at dinner, spit on his sister, pulled the dog's tail and made our house looked like a tornado touched down in it.  I forget about all of those things (and he forgets my stern voice, angry eyes and the time outs that he served) and we end our night together on a high note.

5.  They are not gender specific!  This is something that we struggle with in our house.  After having two girls, we have a ton of Barbie, Disney Princess and Fancy Nancy books and even though we do not say "this is girl" or "this is boy" in our house (I mean, really, Quinn had a pedicure from March to August!), Fancy Nancy is a hard sell for him.  I have also found that in my library Elephant and Piggie is loved equally by girls and boys.

Quinn's favorite Elephant and Piggie Book:::There's a Bird on Your Head!
Casey and Chandler's favorite Elephant and Piggie Book:::We Are in a Book!
My favorite Elephant and Piggie Books::::Watch Me Throw the Ball! and Should I Share My Ice Cream?

Need to buy a gift for a little kid?  (ages 2 - 5ish)  Trust me, these books are perfect!  They are especially perfect if there are older siblings to help with reading in the house - get in that fluency practice!  (You can even have them practice reading in accents or fun things like - reading like a pirate, reading like a princess, reading like an angry monster, etc - it's funny to hear what they come up with.  *shakes head* Crazy kids!)

31 Days::: Let the Fun Begin!

So for the past few years, I have watched the Nester's 31 Days project grow.  And while I thought long and hard about participating, like so many things in my life, I let a little voice creep in and say things like, "Why would anyone want to read what you have to say about, well, anything?"  And that's an annoying voice and so to make it go away, I would reply with, "Yep.  You're right.  No one would,"  and then let out a big sigh and I would move on to the next thing.

But over the summer I was consumed by a little tiny grain of a thought, "Maybe someone would read it."

I know that lots of people write about reading and books and literacy.  I know that very well.  I know that lots of people are incredibly passionate about these things and write amazing articles and posts, reviews and memoirs about reading and how it changed their life.

Because here's the thing, if you really think about it... 
reading changes everyone's life...

Either...

1.  You learn how to read and you love it.  A life long reader in the making.  Book worm.  Every teacher's dream.  Books become your window into the world.  They become a mirror and you see yourself in the characters on the pages.

2.  You learn how to read and you're indifferent towards it.  Bleh.  Some people feel that way.  I've had students feel that way.  And of course I always take the path of I'm sure you just haven't found the right book...because you're so close to being a book lover...but sometimes that's not a book at all that's the right thing.  Sometimes people love to read magazines or cook books or video game guides, comics, car manuals, blogs.  You see where I'm going with this?  In my world, reading is reading and sometimes people who say they don't read, really do.  To me, it all counts! (But I think I'm about to bust a move on a digression, so I'm going to move along!)

3.  You learn how to read and you hate it.  My question is always, what do you hate about it?  Do you hate all reading or just school reading?  If you hate something, it more than likely created negativity in your life.  A negative change.  Hate it or not, you can now read your mail, legal documents and recipes.  Boom!  Reading has changed your life.

OR

4.  You never learned how to read.  And the tragedy of knowing that you haven't learned something so very important has changed your life.  Your life took a different turn when that skill was not mastered.

So when I tell you that reading changed my life, I am well aware of how cliche it sounds.  But I am going to say it anyway.  Reading changed my life.

I was a child of a broken home (not my term, but what society labeled it, it sounds dramatic so sometimes I like to use it).  I was an only child - or should I say, I was surrounded by half and step siblings, but was the only one that lived in my house.  By the time I was six, I was desperate to learn to read.  You see, when the weather was nice, and my mom had a day off from her retail job, and the chores were done, she would put on her bikini, douse herself in Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil, and lay out on the deck, soaking up the sun.  In one hand she would hold a Danielle Steel book and with the other she would pop cucumber slices into her mouth.

My older step sister was devouring the Sweet Valley High series and while she laid on her bed to read, I would sit at the foot of the bed and watch her.  I would watch.her.read.  Creepy, I know.

In my mind, reading was something big girls did and once I could do that, well, clearly, I was then a big girl.

Once I learned how and started reading, I couldn't be stopped.  I had a walk in closet and would stay in there, reading for hours.  I tore through Berenstain Bears, Ramona books and the Harriet books.  When I got in trouble, my grounding was to play outside or to help my mother plant flowers.

My mom caught on and began making visits to the bookstore part of my allowance.  A trip to Walden Books on Saturday mornings.  She would let me pick two books.  I was allowed to spread out on the floor with my choices and carefully examine each before making a final choice.  She never rushed me.

I don't think there was ever more motivation to complete my chores.

My dad may not have been entirely sure of what he should do with a little girl when I spent my summers with him.  So he took me to Chicago Public Libraries.  I would scan the shelves and end up with a stack of books that I rested my chin on as I carried them up to the circulation desk.  Reading was a safe activity.  Reading was something I could do as my little brothers napped.

My Aunt and Uncle would take me to Barnes and Noble at Oak Brook Mall and we would spend the afternoon there.  They would buy coffee table books about The Beatles and writing guide books, books about Monet and the plays of Neil Simon. 

I imagined myself as a member of the Baby Sitters Club.  I stayed awake nights reading Christopher Pike and VC Andrews books. 

As I look back on growing up and going away to college...I was never without a book.  Books were always faithful companions.

It made sense then, that I became a teacher, went on to earn a Master's Degree in Children's Literature and then a Specialist Degree in School Library Media.  I know a lot about reading.  I know a lot about books and writing.  I know a lot about the impact that those things - books and reading and writing and literacy -  have had on me...and my students...and the patrons of my library.

So even though there is still a whisper of "Why would anyone want to read what you have to say?" I answer to that, Someone just might.  They just might.

I am joining the 31 Days Series.  31 Days of Reading.  I'll be sharing with you some of my favorite reads, some of my favorite books to give as gifts to little ones, big kids and teens, and tips for helping reluctant readers.  I certainly hope that you'll stick around.  

{linking up with Nester for 31 Days}

 {and if you're a regular reader, no fear, I'll still be posting crazy antics from my children, new shop info, and general life updates!}