Books

Lately I have been thinking a lot about books. I love books so much. That may be a nerdy, teacher-y thing to say, but I don't much care. They are just so wonderful.
In my current classroom I spend the first 15 minutes after the kids come in from recess with the kids gathered around me, reading a chapter book. We are fully in Kate Decamillo's gorgeous Newberry winner, "The Tale of Despereaux." I have read it perhaps 6 times to different classrooms by now; I just adore sharing it with kids. In some teacher circles this 'old fashion' simple read aloud is falling out of popularity, but I don't care. I read to them a 300 page chapter book with perhaps 12 books, without a clearly explained learning target, far above their own reading levels, with complex themes such as forgiveness, empathy, and heroism. I try to really do it justice as I read it a loud- bringing as much emphasis and voices to the complex characters. Truthfully I am pretty bad at a french accent, but the kids don't seem to notice.
One of my uncles on my dad's side- now he could do voices. When we were little he used to read to us. One of the clearest and more formative books Uncle Rich read to us was "The BFG" by Roald Dahl. My mind is fussy about how this really happened. He didn't live with us and I don't remember if being a weekly thing, but he must have come over multiple times and read us this great chapter book with the best voices. I remember being so captivated by it. It shaped me. There is this line is "You've Got Mail," that I love: "When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does." This is true for me of Sophie and her Big Friendly Giant; they became a part of who I am, how I see and treat people. They are joined by "Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel," "The Babysitter Club" girls, Tock and Milo from "The Phantom Tollbooth," and hundreds of other books that were read to me until I could read them for myself.
We usually buy our books from Amazon, but for Christmas I got a gift certificate for the local bookstore fantastically 4 blocks from my house, and I just love going in there. There is something fabulous about a huge room full of books. I love browsing and perusing. To touch the spines, read the backs, smell the edges (tell no one I do this): it awakens the imagination, opens my eyes to the possibilities, broadens my perspectives- and all of this even before I have actually chosen one to read. That is when the transformation takes place.
And this is one of the greatest gifts that I cherish about my job. I love teaching reading. Don't get me wrong, the wonder that science brings to a child, the safety and predictability of math- all good stuff, but reading! The way a book can teach a child that they are not alone- someone else has felt the way you feel- and simultaneous teach them that there are things that other people have seen, experienced, felt that they never knew about: these are the things of value. How a boy in my class, who struggles reading on his own, follows very clearly the deep and implied plot points in the chapter book he listens to for 1/24 of his school day. I love trying to find that story or author or series that will change things for kid; that story that will shape them. I love helping them find the story they will read over and over again and then in 15 or 20 years reach for it to read to their own child.
I just love books.