Books, Books, Books

i have some children who are totally into reading.

all of them are great readers but for some it is a passion.

i saw Shawni post a few weeks ago about reading to her kids at night and some of the books that they have enjoyed. it was a great list.

i read to my kids but mostly the little ones.

i forget about the ones that are old enough to do it on their own.

i was getting a little tired of Dora, Curious George, Thomas the Train, Calvin and Hobbes, Dr. Suess and Berenstein Bears every night for the little boys.

that next day i stopped at our tiny local library and picked up a copy of Tale of Depereaux.

i had never read it.

i am sure that brooklyn had. i decided that we were going to forgo the traditional night time stories and read this as a family.

i have to say that more than anything else i loved the experience.

when it was bedtime my kids would all come with blankets into the family room and lay around and listen to me read.

i love that the chapters were so short that

IF we were in a really good spot and

IF my kids promised to go right to bed and not get out and

IF i got extra kisses

it was no big deal to add another chapter on.

i think that my little ones learned a great skill to quietly listen and comprehend a story without the stimulation of pictures to stunt their imagination.

i have to say that i was a little sad to be done with it.

we have not started another one, yet.

*note to self* put that on the list of things to do.

a couple other notes about books.......

1) charles once took about 2 years to read this really thick and somewhat boring biography of Abraham Lincoln. he read a lot of other books inbetween but almost every night he would pick this one up and read a little. i think that it helped put him to sleep. i admire his determination to see the book thru - even though i would laugh at him everytime that he picked it and ask when he was just going to be done. {as a note - i think that abraham lincoln was a great man and has an amazing story to tell - this book was just one that did him any justice}

2) i have never read the classic Children's book "where the wild things are"

3)brooklyn passed off one of her young women value projects by reading 50 books in 2009. if we are being honest....it was WAY more than 50 but she had a terrible time keeping track and those are just the ones that she could recall at a moments notice. {for example, she read Fire of the Covenant 2x last year but only counted it once - it is only a 794 page book} she is one of the fastest readers i have ever met. never take a book recommendation from her because she is not a good judge....she thinks that everything is great. hehe

Here is a list of books that she had recently been enjoying... the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, another run thru of the great standby Harry Potter, and some of the Twilight books.

4)brigham gets into different reading kicks. he does not always have a book that he is devouring but when he does.....i notice the he retreats to the bathroom. { i guess that he thinks that he can hide out in there and get some good reading time in before i catch that he is not doing his homework } on saturday night he finished this book.

i have never read it [another classic to add to my list} I knew that he had been reading but i did not realize how close he was to the end. it was late, maybe after 10, on saturday and all the kids were showered and in bed. i thought that all were asleep. all were NOT asleep.

i walked down the hallway and the boy's door was open. brigham was sitting on his dresser using the light from the hallway to read by. i caught him and asked what he was doing. he started crying.

i didn't yell at him.

i had not asked that mean.

i was confused.

he just looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "this book is SO sad." Oh buddy - you melted my heart.

i asked him if he knew that it was going to be sad.

he told me, " yeah, this is the 2nd time that I read it but I promised myself that I wasn't going to cry this time. it is just SO sad though."

i just gave him a big hug and sent him off to the bathroom to collect himself.

he still has been talking about how great the book was and asked his teacher today if he could keep the book a little longer so his mom and dad could read it too.

5) emmelyne is catching her sister's bug of wanting to stay up and read.

she must have a little more self control than her sister and will put the book down when she knows that it is time to stop.

6) hudson continues to be fascinated with calvin and hobbes and now, much to my dismay, garfield comic books. he is a boy who will read in the dark of his room by the light of the hallway if necessary.

7) rexton is so happy being read to. he has a lot of great examples in this house to teach him how fun reading is. he still prefers Dora, Diego, Dr. Suess and anything with a dinosaur in it.