TIME TO PACK AWAY THOSE FAVORITE BOOKS?

RECONSIDER SAYS

THEBOOKJEANIE

Several friends sent me the recent article in the New York Times "Critic's Notebook" series titled, Memories of a Bedtime Book Club by staff literary critic Dwight Garner, wanting to know if I approved of packing away the picture books and other readaloud favorites when the children have moved on to texting and YouTube to make connections and satisfy their curiosity about the world.  Reluctantly but determinedly, Garner had boxed up the final stack of his children's most cherished titles for retirement to the attic, awaiting perhaps a new generation of readers in the years to come - or not.  What does that say about the value of the stories that were read over and over again, night after night, whose characters became almost family members (e.g.Curious George), and whose favorite lines would pop up as part of a shared family vocabulary (e.g. "Back to bed!" yelled Fred, "Back to bed!" yelled Ted" in Big Dog, Little Dog by P.D. Eastman)? Have any other titles on the hallowed wooden bookshelves brought more joy, insight, and sheer delight as George and Martha (James Marshall)? Wait a minute, Dwight, and reconsider. . .  

Our three children were spread out in age so there were never two (or three) who wanted to sit down for a book together.  We tended to read in pairs, parent and child, from the time each was a toddler.  Our girls were very independent readers and once they moved on to chapter books at an early age, they tended to secret themselves off to a corner with their own selections. The youngest, however, was a reluctant reader, although he always wanted me to read to him even through middle school.  Sometimes he couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next and would read on by himself, much to my satisfaction.  I would bring a stack of library books home each week and leave them in his room and he never failed to pick one up for me to start with him.  As a high school student he had to read two assigned titles each summer; fortunately the school provided the books and we often passed them around the family and even had the much-hoped-for-but-rare-event of a book discussion around the dinner table.

Many of these books still sit on the shelves.  They have taken long journeys with us to various temporary homes in Europe and Asia but most of them made their way back to the US and sit as reminders of shared adventures within their pages. I now read these dog-eared paperbacks with my two-year-old grandson and so continues the family literary legacy.  Although sometimes hemmed in by Sue Grafton or Thomas Friedman, Madeline will always be safe on my shelves.

Picture Book Favorites:

Curious George - H.E. Rey: The alter-ego of many a child, this little monkey was always getting into trouble but had a great time doing it.

George and Martha - James Marshall: Who can resist these two droll hippos who take the bonds of friendship to the limit?

Big Dog, Little Dog - Fred and Ted show us how being different from one another can be a positive basis for a friendship.

Goodnight Moon - This simple tale uses repetition to create a soothing bedtime tale - almost as good as hatha yoga.

Harry the Dirty Dog - Our all-time favorite story of a dog who runs away because he doesn't like getting baths.

Chapter Book Choices:

Henry Huggins - Beverly Cleary: All of Cleary's books were popular in our family.  The Henry and Ribsy (the dog) stories were my son's absolute favorites - in high school, I saw him slip an old discarded library copy of Henry Huggins into his backpack before we left for the airport.  My girls loved the Ramona stories.

Skinnybones - Barbara Park: Just read the first chapter of this book and you will be laughing so hard that you will have to find a 4th grader to give it to. My older daughter's favorite book.

Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech: This Newbery Award winner is a complex story of young girl, Sal, whose mother left on a journey and never returned. As her grandparents take her on a road trip across the country in search of her lost mother, Sal relates outrageous stories about a new friend, Phoebe Winterbottom, while trying to come to terms with the circumstances of her mother's disappearance.  This thoughtful and multilayered novel is my younger daughter's favorite, read and reread many times.  Now she shares it with her own students.

Shared Summer Reading:

Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer: This true story of a disasterous expedition to Everest is told by a journalist who accompanied the team filming an IMAX movie.  Reading this book stimulated a family discussion on risk-taking, moral and physical courage, and the decisions that can mean life or death.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night  - Mark Haddon: A quite unusual and thought-provoking story of how a highly intelligent young man with little understanding of how to relate to others investigates the mysterious death of a neighborhood dog.  Haddon creates such a truely authentic voice for the troubled narrator that our family spent much time reflecting upon what constitutes "normal" and can we really define it?

  

In my reading nook . . .

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to have so many great titles stacked beside the bed, it's hard to leave them to go to work:

Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behavior 

Pat Barker, Life Class

Ian McEwan, Sweet Tooth

Hilary Mantel, Bringing Up the Bodies

David Downing, Zoo Station

Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Ivan *

* 2013 Newbery Award Winner for children's fiction 

     

Have a wonderful week and . . .

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