The Book Centennial

ONE HUNDRED BOOKS!

It’s hard to believe we’ve done this for a hundred days. I was worried at the beginning there wouldn’t be enough gems to last a year and now there might not be time to fit them all in. I am being more judicious in my choices, but Scarlett still loves randoms. I’ve realized how fortunate we are to live when and where we do so that a wealth of reading material is available. I am grateful for the friends who have stepped up to suggest and provide their favorites. I love that Scarlett presents books demanding “on the couch.” But perhaps the best by-product of all is catching Scarlett “reading” to herself. I remember being shocked when I spoke with a Resource Specialist for the first time about Connor’s academic challenges. She told me the first thing they check for in a child with learning disabilities is if they know how to properly use a book--holding it right side up, turning pages from front to back--because, often, these kids have never been exposed to reading. How is that possible? Fortunately, Connor did not have that problem because he not only navigated the book, he also showed where the author and illustrator’s names were and said that illustrator means someone who draws pictures. But think of how sad that is for those other children. So, to celebrate books, we read Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Now “skinned-knee d” is stuck in my head.

http://www.amazon.com/Chicka-Boom-Bill-Martin-Jr/dp/068983568X

http://www.teachingk-8.com/archives/celebrations_in_reading_and_writing/remembering_bill_martin_jr_by_maryann_manning.html

http://www.johnarchambault.com/about.html

Who's Your Mommy?

I always wondered what a political cartoon of me would look like. I know I could get a cartoon version of myself at any boardwalk or fair, but those are too generic. I wanted to see what specific features an artist specializing in irony and biting satire would choose to portray me. Then, several years ago, a talented student took up the challenge--and I had a toothy, smiling mouth that took up most of my cartoon face and was roughly the same size as my cartoon body. I saw his caricatures of other instructors, and I thought they were dead-on, so I have to assume the one of me was also insightful. I really like the drawing, but I’m not completely sure it was complimentary. I generally think it is a good thing that we rarely know how others describe us, because the picture would clash with the one we have of ourselves and create an uncomfortable cognitive dissonance. Or worse. The descriptions we would probably be the most wise to avoid are those given by our kids when they know we can’t hear them. Would we even recognize ourselves when seen through their eyes? Charles Reasoner’s Sliding Surprise board book Whose Mommy Is This? seems to ask that very question. Each mommy is described and then you pull a sort of drawer to see which baby is giving the description. Scarlett loved the process but I wonder what she would say if she were in one of the drawers.


http://books.google.com/books?id=mSsNAAAACAAJ&dq=Charles+Reasoner&source=gbs_book_other_versions_r&cad=2