Literary Euphoria

Thomas, my husband, gave me the gift of $100 to spend on anything I wanted on my jaunt around town last Friday. The text with the announcement came after I browsed through a few stores where I probably could have easily found something on which to spend the money (all the pretty art). I could not find anything the rest of the day; however, I was not deterred. Exhausted and sore from walking through several stores and malls I returned home resolved to get something out of the adventure. I turned to my trusty friend Amazon and purchased 12 books. The second book in the new Beyonders series by Brandon Mull will arrive next year. I also got the final book in the Alchemyst series by Michael Scott which will also arrive next year. I guess you can call me a die hard. The rest of the books are themed around the American Revolution. (We loved Johnny Tremain so much I decided to dive into more books on the topic.) Titles include books written by Avi, Collier and Brady. I am especially excited for three of the books in particular.

The first is Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos by Robert Lawson. Disney made a short cartoon called Ben and Me that I loved as a child. When you love the movie you often love the book more. I figured I can relive a childhood love. It is my playful take on two birds with one stone. The second book is Francis Macon and the Legend of the Swamp Fox by Kate Salley Palmer. It is a picture book. A picture book always has a place in a home library no matter how old the readers are. Again, I can attribute the excitement to receive this book on good old Disney. I am still heard singing, "Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox, tail on his hat. Nobody knows where the Swamp Fox at." And, I will sing this a lot until the literary euphoria wears off. Finally, I got Swamp Fox: General Francis Marion and his Guerrilla Fighters of the American Revolutionary War by William Dobein James who fought side by side with the Swamp Fox, Francis Macon (I wanted to call him Sir Francis Macon but the irony was too much even if he is a knight in shining armor of the American Revolution.). It's a first hand account: A primary source. It cannot be more cool than that. If you were here you could palpitate the excitement that has a strangle hold on the air.

Now I just hope I can make it until Tuesday. I love Amazon but sometimes the lack of instant gratification is too much to bear. I plan on being quite happy on Tuesday when my dog goes berserk at the sound of the doorbell.

Reading Aloud: Captains Courageous

Yesterday we started reading Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling. I must admit I love Rudyard Kipling even though he is no longer in vogue in academia. This novel is a stretch for my children because the prose are not what they prefer, but read aloud time is not always what they prefer or what comes easiest. It is also about stretching their listening ability and exposing them to literature they may not chose to read and literature their mother loves. I remember loving Captains Courageous because of the general theme of the young, spoiled brat enduring trials and tribulations to become a man. Troop is not the ideal role model but some of the qualities and skills he uses to mentor Harvey in becoming a man are qualities and skills we can all examine. This book is also affording the opportunity to discuss common courtesies and the language we use to address other people. I am grateful when a book challenges my ideals and values cementing what is important into my children's hearts.

Reading Aloud: Johnny Tremain

For a short, but insane, period of my life I attempted to educated my children at home, start a charter school and complete 17 credit hours a semester at Southern Utah University. I cannot say I handled myself with the grace and intellect I desired; however, what can one expect when they are juggling that much in their life. While attending SUU I took an English class by professor Charles Cutherbertson. The end of the semester involved a paper about Beloved by Toni Morrison. I wasn't too fond of the book but used the symbolism of the trees the author verbally illustrated throughout the novel and tied it to the themes of freedom and liberty.

Mr. Cuthbertson (an English professor with more toys than books on his shelves) and I discussed my choice and my examples at one point. I chose to illustrate and link the symbolic nature of trees in Beloved to the Sons of Liberty and the Liberty Tree. I share this with you because I was befuddled and dumbfounded to discover my professor had heard of neither of these. Neither. Neither! I could not believe what I heard and being emotionally transparent I know my voice oozed of disappointment. He knew the longing for freedom and individual power expressed by Malcolm X. (A book on his top ten published by the SUU library.) But, knew nothing of the people who incited the call to revolution and the symbolic nature of trees attached to it. It demonstrated to me something I take for granted.

I was not going to let me children miss out on the love and passion I learned as a child for this great country and the people who paid the high price to make it so. It started a mission. I began to work on my membership to the Daughters of the American Revolution. And soon plan to add their membership to the Children of the American Revolution. I also wanted them to hear stories of lives from that time period.

I remembered watching the movie, Johnny Tremain, by Disney as a child. I loved it then. So I decided to share the book with my children. (Maybe I will also hunt down the movie.) It was an amazing and touching read. One I would definitely recommend to anyone. It was written by Esther Forbes. It is Newberry Award Winner.

Johnny Tremain is a magical historical fiction. It deals with an array of emotions from pride, humiliation, perseverance, personal triumph and forgiveness. It intertwines these lessons with the events of Boston and the surrounding areas just prior to the American Revolution. It includes the Boston Tea Party and the marches on various forts from the Bostonian perspective. It ends on a solemn and sacred note as the author details the lives lost on the morning of 19 April 1775 in the green at Lexington. (I believe.) It is apparent the author revered and reverenced these events. It is a wonderful depiction of the internal emotional struggles and the external physical struggles of these events. I am grateful for the opportunity to read this to my children.

In the Middle of Johnny Tremain

My children and I are currently reading Johnny Tremain. We are loving the book. (Of coarse, what book don't we love.) Johnny is on the eve of the Boston Tea Party, 16 December 1773. Although, I love the colorful interactions between the protagonist and supporting characters as they illustrate, with words, the struggle of the Whigs and Tories at the commencement of the American Revolution. It is great to share a historical fiction with my children and know the excitement of the writing teaches the concepts and events of the America's struggle for freedom far better than I can, even though my heart swells with gratitude as I think of the patriots, both male and female. These stories invigorate the mind, inspire questions and stimulate the desire for more information. It is, probably, the most wonderful turn of events in reading with and to children, whatever their ages.

In the book Johnny Tremain, Johnny, the protagonist, is confronted early with his Achilles Heal. Pride. The designs for his life are uprooted and rearranged for something else. Possibly something greater! But, he has to face down the seeds of bitterness his pride plants in his heart. Luckily, the author inserts a wonderful supporting character and mentor in Rab. A character that teaches Johnny but shares brilliant lessons for the reader and teacher without sounding preachy or talking down to Johnny or the reader. He confronts Johnny's poor demeanor in a very kind, simple and straightforward way. It gave pause for my children and I to discuss the matter.

Johnny struggled with going off "half-cocked." Not only were we able to discuss the term and what it meant but discuss how there are times when we all face the same struggle. My eldest son struggles mercilessly with his temper. It has come to be a habit to always jump to an extreme with his siblings. He usually chooses frustration, anger or hurt. I cannot even begin to tell you how much he has improved but it is still quite the struggle for him. The book provide a great illustration of how a change in behavior creates positive consequences and opens doors for Johnny. Johnny expressed his gratitude too.

My children even commented that if there Mother was alive during this time period she would definitely be a Whig. Probably an inflammatory one too. I do not talk much politics: it gets me in trouble. I avoid it most times because it depresses me, but, like the characters that color the pages of this book, I love freedom. I would do anything for it. My children know that. It is hard to say whether I would be more like Abigail Adams or Molly Pitcher. I will have to find books about those individuals and see what my children think.

365 Day Challenge So Far

Grrrr....there isn't much else to say, really. Like New Year's Resolutions gone awry, my personal challenge to read to my children for 365 days is lacking consistency. Consistency is a constant struggle for me! I am finding weekend outings, birthdays and holidays to be some of my obstacles. I am problem solving these situations to overcome them. Weekend outings are a relatively easy fix: take the book on the trip and read while we are traveling. (My husband's idea.) Birthdays are a little more difficult I can think of a thousand things to do to preoccupy myself on these days but I am going to hunker down and do it or get over not having a perfect track record, but why would I want to lower my expectations. Holidays are another stumbling block. My husband is home then and I would much rather spend time with him and stay in bed. My normal expectation is to read to the children in the morning. I struggle to complete an activity if I miss its schedule time. I am going to have to work on adjusting my expectations on holidays. And again I am probably going to have to hunker down and just get it down, whenever or give up sleep to get it done. I guess I am looking at a little more effort, discipline, dedication and possibly an adjustment in my expectations.

Reading Aloud: Frindle

Frindle by Andrew Clements is a fun, fast read aloud. It is a great jumping off point for learning about words and dictionaries. Although Nick's precocious behavior has you rooting for him, Mrs. Granger is the true hero in my eyes. Not because she is a teacher. (I struggle with the idea of most traditional classroom teachers.) But, because, as a mentor she knows the role to play to create success for her students. Sometimes one must seem evil to provide the necessary opposition for the amazing end results. The characters may be one dimensional but they definitely give you some food for thought and some great conversation starters with your children too.

Reading Aloud: The Secret School

After the emotional tumult of reading Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls my children requested a read that would give our heartstrings a bit of a break. The Secret School by Avi was the answer. It is a simplified version in fictional form of my educational ideals. Although it is set in the 1920s it demonstrates what children and young adults are capable of when given the opportunity to invest in their own education. At one point, somewhere around page 94, Ida figures out how to make teaching less burdensome. The lesson is one every parent instinctively knows and every teacher deserves to learn.

This is a fast read. It is definitely a good read. I look forward to reading many more books by Avi by myself and with my children.

Reading Aloud: Where the Red Fern Grows

My children and I just finished reading Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I read it many, many, many years ago. Although I remember the basic premise of the book, I had long since forgotten the details of the plot. It was an amazing read. I was grateful for the experience I shared with my children.

Within the first few pages, my children and I were laughing so hard our sides hurt. In fact I had to reread the portions about the family cat several times because they could barely hear me through the riotous laughter. By the end of the book, we finished up a box of tissue. Many days it was difficult to put the book down because we just had to find out what happened next.

I was extremely impressed with Billy, the protagonist. He is an amazing mentor of hard-work, faith in God and obedience to parents. His choices offered many opportunities to talk about how important it is to talk and share experiences with parents. This is a book every family deserves to read and every child deserves to hear.

365 Days of Reading Aloud

One of my educational goals for this year is to read aloud to my children for an entire year. Reading aloud is an important component of literacy often over looked by teachers and parents. It is one of my favorites.

I recently read Reading Magic by Mem Fox. I also reread The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. Both authors had great insights. Although, I did find I disagreed with Ms. Fox on a few points. I can validate many of their points from my experience of reading to my children. I also agree with their insights as a child who was read to. In fact, some of my best memories included listening to my Father read White Fang by Jack London, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

Since starting this adventure with my children I have read the Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis and Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Today we finished The Secret School by Avi. Tomorrow we start Frindle by Andrew Clements. I am not completely consistent yet but I am almost there.

So far my experience with this adventure is absolutely wonderful. It provides opportunities I never imagined. Books are probably the best mentors available not just in teaching knowledge but values and morals. Even if the book fundamentally disagrees with your families values and morals: It is those moments where my kids and me have great discussions about choices and consequences. They leave with little doubt as to what my expectations are and how I measure my expectations.

If I could give a gift to every child it would be the simple act of reading and being reading aloud. It is an amazing opportunity and a lot of fun.