Uh, hi, remember me? Gosh it's been a long time since I posted anything. We were a bit derailed from normal life for a while. Our neighborhood was hit quite hard (but not as hard as many towns in Vermont) with flooding from Tropical Storm Irene. Our house is fine, but we had to live elsewhere for about a week while things dried out. Dealing with the aftermath--FEMA, contractors, etc.--became more or less a full time job for a few weeks. And school started. And my freelance work picked up. Basically, life has been nutty since August 28! But things are settling down and we are back to our normal school-year routine for the most part.
Though this entire topsy turvy fall, we haven't quit reading, of course. Once things settled back down, Noah pulled out another old favorite, The Neverending Story, to re-read. Those of you who are around my age will remember the wonderful movie from the 80s, about the little boy Bastian finding the mysterious book about the magical land of Fantasia, and literally becoming part of the story as he reads. Noah and I watched the movie together a while back and he was enthralled with it. I hadn't even realized the movie was based on a classic fantasy novel by Michael Ende, but after watching the movie with Noah a couple of years ago I discovered it. We read it together through many lazy afternoons the summer before last. Although the book is not truly a children's book and is far more complex in story and theme than the movie, Noah was equally enthralled with it. This time around was no different, except that he eagerly anticipated his favorite parts. (The kids has the memory of an elephant!)
About 3/4 of the way through reading this amazing novel, my son did something that I thought was pretty amazing himself. After I read the following sentence: "On every roof and battlement stood elves with gleaming trumpets, blaring away at the top of their lungs," Noah stopped me. "Mom, wait," he said. "Is that two sentences?" I showed him that no, there was a comma separating the clauses. "Oh OK," he said with relief. "Because that wouldn't have made sense as two sentences."
Um, wow, I thought to myself. Talk about a keen sense of language. He has learned the basics of punctuation at school, but the fact that his ear picked up on the way the meaning would have been changed with a difference in punctuation really surprised me. On the other hand, though, maybe it shouldn't. After all, this is a kid who has always had a sharp ear for language and meaning, is extremely inquisitive and analytical, and has been exposed to plenty of good--and a healthy dose of bad--writing. I have already observed the results of this exposure on his sense of story and his oral storytelling skills. Seriously, you should hear the scary stories he makes up for our 13-year old carpooler on the way to school every morning! He creates mood, tone, character detail, plot, rhythm, all on the fly on a 10 minute car ride. It only makes sense that he would start to pay attention to writing at this level.
I resisted the urge to start him on a study of stylistics--the subject of my absolute favorite graduate school course. But, man, did that little observation makes this writer mama proud. I always think of reading together as something I do to foster the love of reading in my children--I had forgotten that it can foster a love of writing, too.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Books, glorious books!
Wow, what a summer it's been. We've been so busy swimming, gardening, visiting family and having fun outside that I haven't had much time to sit down and write--not to mention a zillion other projects I've been hoping to get to this summer!
Reading update: We did start Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but after a trip to the library before a visit to grandma's, Noah got so excited about The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester that he decided not to finish re-reading Harry Potter after all. I can't say I don't feel a little sad that he is finally moving on, but it's nice to find something new, too. And, I have to say, this book is really, really fun and well-written. There is no magic involved--it's just a regular story about school aged kids and the adventures they get up to on their summer vacation. It's fun to read out loud, the story is engaging but not scary, and the writing doesn't insult our intelligence (mine or Noah's!). It's also written simply enough that we can take turns reading without too much trouble on N's part. We'll definitely be looking for more books by Barbara O'Connor.
But, what I'm really excited to tell you about is the giant pile of books in our potential "to read" pile. Early in the summer, we visited my parents. My dad, who is quite possibly more addicted to books than I am, took the kids to this fantastic bookstore near him, Oblong Books, and let Noah go to town. Noah picked out a great selection.
Great choices. He's been picking away at My Father's Dragon this summer. What a fun and quirky book. And then, two classics: Swiss Family Robinson and Journey to the Center of the Earth. We can't wait to sink our teeth into these!
Then, soon after my first blog post, my friend Laura tracked me down at the playground with two shopping bags filled with some of her favorite fantasy books that she thought Noah might enjoy. He promptly sat down in the grass and began poring over them.
What a pile, huh? Notice The Princess Bride in there? How much fun will that be? But the one Noah was most excited about was Lloyd Alexander's Book of Three. His teacher read The Black Cauldron, the second book in that series, to the class last year and he's been dying to read this one. Yay! Sharing well-loved books is such a joy. In fact, Laura and I first became friends when I planned a book swap among several women I knew. I love that she took such an interest in Noah's love of fantasy and loaned us these.
But wait, there's more! For Noah's birthday my parents gave him still more books.
He's pretty excited about those How to Train Your Dragon books, and I'm pretty excited about that beautiful edition of The Jungle Book.
It all adds up to this: A HUGE pile of reading possibilities!
Wow, how will we choose what to read next? How to Train Your Dragon strikes me as a series he'll enjoy reading himself when he starts reading on his own, but he's not quite there yet. I'm hoping to go with The Jungle Book or The Princess Bride. He may have other plans, though. How do you decide what to read with your children?
Reading update: We did start Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but after a trip to the library before a visit to grandma's, Noah got so excited about The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester that he decided not to finish re-reading Harry Potter after all. I can't say I don't feel a little sad that he is finally moving on, but it's nice to find something new, too. And, I have to say, this book is really, really fun and well-written. There is no magic involved--it's just a regular story about school aged kids and the adventures they get up to on their summer vacation. It's fun to read out loud, the story is engaging but not scary, and the writing doesn't insult our intelligence (mine or Noah's!). It's also written simply enough that we can take turns reading without too much trouble on N's part. We'll definitely be looking for more books by Barbara O'Connor.
But, what I'm really excited to tell you about is the giant pile of books in our potential "to read" pile. Early in the summer, we visited my parents. My dad, who is quite possibly more addicted to books than I am, took the kids to this fantastic bookstore near him, Oblong Books, and let Noah go to town. Noah picked out a great selection.
Great choices. He's been picking away at My Father's Dragon this summer. What a fun and quirky book. And then, two classics: Swiss Family Robinson and Journey to the Center of the Earth. We can't wait to sink our teeth into these!
Then, soon after my first blog post, my friend Laura tracked me down at the playground with two shopping bags filled with some of her favorite fantasy books that she thought Noah might enjoy. He promptly sat down in the grass and began poring over them.
What a pile, huh? Notice The Princess Bride in there? How much fun will that be? But the one Noah was most excited about was Lloyd Alexander's Book of Three. His teacher read The Black Cauldron, the second book in that series, to the class last year and he's been dying to read this one. Yay! Sharing well-loved books is such a joy. In fact, Laura and I first became friends when I planned a book swap among several women I knew. I love that she took such an interest in Noah's love of fantasy and loaned us these.
But wait, there's more! For Noah's birthday my parents gave him still more books.
He's pretty excited about those How to Train Your Dragon books, and I'm pretty excited about that beautiful edition of The Jungle Book.
It all adds up to this: A HUGE pile of reading possibilities!
Wow, how will we choose what to read next? How to Train Your Dragon strikes me as a series he'll enjoy reading himself when he starts reading on his own, but he's not quite there yet. I'm hoping to go with The Jungle Book or The Princess Bride. He may have other plans, though. How do you decide what to read with your children?
Sunday, July 31, 2011
It's been a magical year.
It seems only right to launch this blog with a post about reading the Harry Potter series with my 6 year old, N. We read the entire series, from start to finish, beginning in November and finishing up right before the end of the school year in early June. And I'll always remember this past school year as the Year of Harry Potter.
I was a big Harry Potter fan long before I even had kids. Back in those days (feels like another life entirely), I picked up a paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone one day while browsing the bookstore next to the laundromat. I'd heard all the hype, and was semi-interested but a bit skeptical that a book for kids would grab so many adults. I was immediately hooked, though, and spent the next several years anxiously waiting for each book's release and splurging on the hard copy as soon as they were. When the seventh and final book finally came out, I re-read the entire series from start to finish. I was one of those readers who cried at the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, not only because the ending was emotional, but because the story I had loved so well was over.
Needless to say, I was really excited when N began to show interest in reading the series this year. OK, I may have engineered this a teeny bit by taking him to Universal Studios in Orlando last November for a look at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. He had seen the first movie, so he knew the basics, but he was so intrigued and enthralled by everything he saw, like the "wanted" posters of Sirius Black everywhere, that he abandoned the chapter book we brought with us in favor of starting Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (which by some amazing coincidence I had brought with me!) on that very trip. And the rest is history.
Harry Potter has so captured N's imagination that he doesn't think it's imaginary. He is convinced that the wizarding world and Harry Potter is real. He anxiously awaits the day he turns 11 and gets his letter inviting him to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (and I do mean anxiously because he's a little nervous about leaving home!). He even writes Harry Potter letters, like this one:
Even though we finished the series several months ago, we still have long conversations about it. For one so young I am amazed at the details he has retained from each book, the connections between the characters and complexity of some of the relationships (Why did Snape kill Dumbledore? Was Draco actually Harry's friend? Did Hermione love both Harry and Ron?).
N has clearly become emotionally attached to the characters in the same way I did--not just the Harry, Ron and Hermione but the entire supporting cast--the Weasleys, the house-elves, Remus Lupin, and even minor characters like Dedalus Diggle. Mention any one of them and he gets a gleam in his eye, a wry smile, as he recalls who they were, the role they played, their special quirks, what was funny and/or sad about their part in the story.
Reading this series with him was nothing less than magical for me as well--sharing something I had enjoyed so much and seeing him appreciate it so fully made it really special. To celebrate the Year of Harry Potter, at the end of the school year I surprised him with this letter:
We took the train to New York City, just the two of us, where we met up with a dear old friend and her son to check out the Harry Potter exhibit at Discovery Times Square. Photos weren't allowed inside the exhibit, so you'll just have to take my word for it that we both soaked in every minute--from being sorted into Gryffindor to sitting in Hagrid's chair and practicing throwing a quaffle into a Quidditch hoop. I hope it was a memory he'll keep forever, this big culmination of our shared Harry Potter experience.
The downside to reading Harry Potter with him: It has kind of ruined us for all other books! We finished the series in June and have yet to find anything that we love reading together as much. We've read several books since then, but they all fall flat in comparison. He really wanted to read The Swiss Family Robinson, so we started it, but it was way over his head and he became bored pretty quickly. So last night I suggested he pick out something else and after poring over his bookshelf for several minutes, guess what he pulled out? Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, of course.
Well, there's nothing like re-reading an old favorite.
I was a big Harry Potter fan long before I even had kids. Back in those days (feels like another life entirely), I picked up a paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone one day while browsing the bookstore next to the laundromat. I'd heard all the hype, and was semi-interested but a bit skeptical that a book for kids would grab so many adults. I was immediately hooked, though, and spent the next several years anxiously waiting for each book's release and splurging on the hard copy as soon as they were. When the seventh and final book finally came out, I re-read the entire series from start to finish. I was one of those readers who cried at the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, not only because the ending was emotional, but because the story I had loved so well was over.
Needless to say, I was really excited when N began to show interest in reading the series this year. OK, I may have engineered this a teeny bit by taking him to Universal Studios in Orlando last November for a look at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. He had seen the first movie, so he knew the basics, but he was so intrigued and enthralled by everything he saw, like the "wanted" posters of Sirius Black everywhere, that he abandoned the chapter book we brought with us in favor of starting Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (which by some amazing coincidence I had brought with me!) on that very trip. And the rest is history.
Harry Potter has so captured N's imagination that he doesn't think it's imaginary. He is convinced that the wizarding world and Harry Potter is real. He anxiously awaits the day he turns 11 and gets his letter inviting him to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (and I do mean anxiously because he's a little nervous about leaving home!). He even writes Harry Potter letters, like this one:
Even though we finished the series several months ago, we still have long conversations about it. For one so young I am amazed at the details he has retained from each book, the connections between the characters and complexity of some of the relationships (Why did Snape kill Dumbledore? Was Draco actually Harry's friend? Did Hermione love both Harry and Ron?).
N has clearly become emotionally attached to the characters in the same way I did--not just the Harry, Ron and Hermione but the entire supporting cast--the Weasleys, the house-elves, Remus Lupin, and even minor characters like Dedalus Diggle. Mention any one of them and he gets a gleam in his eye, a wry smile, as he recalls who they were, the role they played, their special quirks, what was funny and/or sad about their part in the story.
Reading this series with him was nothing less than magical for me as well--sharing something I had enjoyed so much and seeing him appreciate it so fully made it really special. To celebrate the Year of Harry Potter, at the end of the school year I surprised him with this letter:
We took the train to New York City, just the two of us, where we met up with a dear old friend and her son to check out the Harry Potter exhibit at Discovery Times Square. Photos weren't allowed inside the exhibit, so you'll just have to take my word for it that we both soaked in every minute--from being sorted into Gryffindor to sitting in Hagrid's chair and practicing throwing a quaffle into a Quidditch hoop. I hope it was a memory he'll keep forever, this big culmination of our shared Harry Potter experience.
The downside to reading Harry Potter with him: It has kind of ruined us for all other books! We finished the series in June and have yet to find anything that we love reading together as much. We've read several books since then, but they all fall flat in comparison. He really wanted to read The Swiss Family Robinson, so we started it, but it was way over his head and he became bored pretty quickly. So last night I suggested he pick out something else and after poring over his bookshelf for several minutes, guess what he pulled out? Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, of course.
Well, there's nothing like re-reading an old favorite.
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