Growing a reader

Tags

Calvin and Hobbes, Dr. Seuss, family, granddaughters, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, reading, The Foot Book, The Lunch Box - Visalia, The Teeny Weeny Tadpole

Ours is a household of readers.  At any given moment chances are very good that at least one of us is either engrossed in a book or is deep into Reddit or Facebook (yes, that counts as reading).  For their bedtime story, Georgia has been reading a beautifully illustrated volume of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to the girls several nights a week… unabridged in all its magical wordiness. So it is no surprise that Olivia is the best reader in her Kindergarten class; she is following in Lily’s footsteps by carrying a book with her whenever she leaves the house.

This being Saturday morning, I had the leisure to stay in bed a bit later than usual.  For thirty minutes or so I heard rustlings and creakings coming from the girls’ bedroom, so I knew at least one of them was awake.  When my curiosity got the best of me, I got up and peeked in.  There was Olivia propped up in her bed with The Teeny Weeny Tadpole in her lap, reading to her big sister.  She hesitated over a few words, but figured them out carefully; only once did she stumble…over “course”, as in “of course”.

Olivia represents the “perfect storm” for reading development:  a print-rich environment, family members who value and model reading, a lively curiosity, a wide vocabulary, and the ability to figure out words in context.  Also a Kindergarten teacher who encourages every opportunity for reading and challenges each reader at her own level and a grammy who was once a special education teacher.

Next week they are celebrating Dr. Seuss every day; Olivia has already packed her copy of The Foot Book to read to her classmates.  Life doesn’t get better than this!

Georgia introducing Olivia to Calvin and Hobbes at The Lunchbox.

 

 

Time to read/write

Tags

books, Louisa May Alcott, reading, writing

There’s no time to write tonight, simply time to read.  So the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge continues.  I’ll catch up with other things tomorrow.

Sweet dreams, my friends.

Library books

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favorite books, reading, Tulare County Library

The girls and I made our every-other-week trip to the Library on Friday and brought home a stack of books nearly as tall as Olivia. Among my finds were not one, but two Danielle Steel novels I don’t remember reading, plus one that looks pretty fascinating called “Words Onscreen: The fate of reading in a digital world,” by Naomi S. Baron. I’m smack in the middle of “Girl In Translation” (have I ever mentioned that I LOVE to read?) I am home and the rest of the house is asleep, so I’m going to say “good night” and jump into my pile of bucks.

Good night.

A Fine Romance

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"A Fine Romance", Beatrix Potter, book reviews, English countryside, James Herriot, reading, Susan Branch

“[England is] Like a basket of drinkable kittens, wrapped in a blanket, next to a fireplace.”

Last November I was supposed to meet my cousin Lenita Virtue and her family in San Luis Obispo, CA, at the Remnants of the Past Antique Show and Sale. Besides seeing ‘Nita, my main goal was to meet author Susan Branch and buy an autographed copy of her latest book, “A Fine Romance: Falling in Love with the English Countryside”. Because I was still waiting for the new-to-me motor for my Jeep to be delivered, I wasn’t able to go.

So I did the next-best thing: I ordered “A Fine Romance” from Susan’s Website, http://www.susanbranch.com. My book came in Saturday’s mail, and I started reading this morning. I devoured the pages for two solid hours without even taking a break to fix a cup of tea. I will be finished tonight before going to bed, and I may start over again in the morning!

This delightful little volume details the wonderful journey Susan and her husband, Joe, took to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, beginning and ending on the Queen Mary 2, with nearly two months in between wandering the English countryside. It is hand-lettered and illustrated in typical Susan Branch fashion…that is, absolutely delightful watercolor sketches that could be photographs, and photographs that could be sketches.

They visited places I have yearned to see, and her notes and pictures took me there with them. If you dream of seeing where Beatrix Potter drew/wrote her Peter Rabbit stories, or James Herriot doctored his animals, Susan’s book will take you there. I invite you to find her sweet book, and go along for the ride.

“Wildwood”

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"Wildwood", Drusilla Campbell, Fresno State Bulldogs football, reading, Sparkles the Elf

As a bonus this year, my sister tucked a few freshly read books into my Christmas box (we regularly mail books back and forth across the country).  “Wildwood” caught my eye first off because the author was named Drusilla — as was our maternal great-grandmother.  I can’t remember the last time I saw Drusilla in print outside of my genealogy charts.

I started reading Drusilla Campbell’s “Wildwood” this morning while the rest of the household slept.  There are few things more delicious than reading curled up on the couch, wrapped in a cozy throw, with my thermal cup of Mango Ceylon tea steaming beside me.

I continued reading as the girls both woke up and began their search for Sparkles, our Elf, who was hanging out of the back pocket of Lily’s backpack.

After a brief break to fix breakfast, my nose went back into the story of three women who had been friends since girlhood, as they tiptoed around the recognition of an event thirty years in their past.  I was captivated by their negotiated friendships…the things they acknowledged, the truths they ignored.

The story carried me through a lousy bowl game loss by my beloved Fresno State Bulldogs (although I only read during commercials) and two re-runs of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.

And then it was done.  I was exhausted, but left wanting to know more.  What did the future hold for Hannah, Liz, and Jeanne.  Would their marriages survive?

I hope Drusilla Campbell writes a sequel.