Books, Books, & More Books!Butterfly
Swans
Taken by the Lass Herself
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| Touched by Books - A different Kind of Slice | 10:18 AM |
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“Was it good?” I asked my daughter as we walked to get a quick snack before ballet. She had the first part of her writing test yesterday and read 1.5 books while she waited for the class to finish.
“It was okay.”
Standard answer. It was okay. Rarely is there a book that she loves or one that receives a “good.” Most of them are simply “okay.” Sometimes I find this disheartening as I do love books; and yet, she reads; she loves to read; to finishes the books and understands what she is reading; and how many books do I, also an avid reader, “love?”
There are books that touched my life – Where the Red Fern Grows (which I just ordered for her); Little Women; Les Miserable’s (Loved this one); Because of Winn-Dixie…Tale of Two Cities…And yet, to read this list, I find that they are books I read years ago. Is it only in retrospect that we can see the books that touched our lives or turned us “on” as readers?
My daughter is reading Spilling Ink today in preparation for her writing test tomorrow. Her favorite books to date: Familiars; Savvy; Lost States of America; The Girl Who Could Fly; Ballet Shoes; Moxie Roosevelt; But the one that has touched her life – Umbrella Summer, oh, and the graphic novel Smile. (She loves Winn-Dixie too and has for years)
I wonder though, in years, as she ages, what works she will remember.
2 Thoughts:
I have had this conversation with students many times. Sometimes I think they don't understand how to articulate what they like about a book or how it affected them. I used to teach a unit to 7th graders that went along with the Letters About Literature contest run by the National Center for the Book. It's a great program that really gets kids (and their teachers) thinking about how books affect them. The letters I would read surprised me to no end--and I think surprised the kids too!
And now you have me thinking. And I think I know what my slice will be about tomorrow!
Perhaps there will be more later. Or a particular person that has a decided influence on her. Sometimes books can be critical when there is a critical moment in one's life. Then, later, we remember.
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