To Reading!
Here is a list of books that I got
from THE INTERNET, it told me these were the books best read aloud to children
and the best books for children to have on their bookshelves. Currently there
are no books on Allison’s bookshelf; all of the books are on the floor. Every
day I stack the books back on the shelves, not in any sort of order and most of
the time just in an untidy stack and every day she saunters on over to the book
shelf and pulls every last one on the floor. She also “reads” the books so I am
not too upset about picking them up every night. She pulls out a choice book
looks at it talks in a sing-song voice that I am sure sounds just like me when
I am reading aloud and the looks at me with raised eyebrows. She is waiting for
me to give the appropriate response, which is an enthusiastic, “Really? That
sounds like a good story.” Then she flips to a page and starts the sing-song
narrative over again each time pausing for me to make a comment. I hope this
continues as she truly learns how to read.
I have to admit as much as I love
reading now; I devour books with frenzy. Terry gave me a Sony EReader for my
birthday a few years ago and I used it so much that I ended up breaking it. I
don’t break electronic equipment, it might get obsolete or the battery may give
out but it doesn't die from usage except this thing did. OMG! Terry then got me
a NOOK which I am currently putting miles on. But as a child I was not a
prolific reader. I remember before I could read my hunger and desire to
understand what all of those letters meant, there are literally thousands of
signs everywhere all around with words plastered all over them. I was DYING to
unlock the secret of those signs. I have a Cabbage Patch Kids Scrapbook from
when I was a little girl, before I could read. This scrapbook has stories in it
with pictures; I drew pictures and used stickers to tell the stories that were
in my head. As I learned to read the world seemed to open up and I was thrilled
to get at all the wonderful words that went with all of the story books I had,
all the strange pictures that I could not quite comprehend were beginning to be
explained. The Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes book for example had the story of Persephone,
the picture of the beautiful girl getting dragged to Hades had always
fascinated me but I just could not make up the story in my head to my own
satisfaction and now I would be able to understand it all. Just as this was all
unfolding for me we moved from Oregon to California, in the middle of first
grade. In Mrs. King’s first grade class in Oregon I was at the same place as
all of the other students we were learning our sight vocabulary and going along
swimmingly. In Mrs. Waslowskis’s (I am guessing. It was long, European and
started with a W, I had a really hard time remembering it.) in California I was
behind the other students. Most of the children already knew how to read and
with phonics, I did not understand phonics and I was really falling behind with
everything in school. I would day dream and then my classmates would accuse me
of cheating. “She’s copying from my paper!!” Well, I wasn't the teacher and the
teacher’s aides could see that I wasn't cheating; I had nothing but my name on
the paper most of the time. After that I felt dumb and I just fell behind in
reading for fun. I was trying to read to get through 1st grade.
Reading became something UN-FUN. Looking back I feel a little bit sorry for
that little girl that had her wonder stolen from her by some bratty kids and an
overwhelmed teacher. Eventually my parents worked with me every night, before
going to bed I would read a few pages of Little House on the Prairie,
eventually I was able to get through the entire series of books. The box set
that was given to me for my birthday, I finally finished it all. I felt so accomplished.
As I got more and more confident in my school work and my ability to read I
slowly came back to a place where I wanted to read and then I just couldn't
stop.
So while I am just now finally
showing you the list I hope you understand the pure joy I feel watching my
daughter enjoy her very own library. I will watch to make sure that she keeps
up the fascination. I will do my best to help her if she falters and I will
read in front of her, I will read to her and I will get lost in the book store
with her as much as I possibly can.
List of Children’s Books That Should be on Theirs
Bookshelves
1.
Where the Wild Things Are
2.
D’Aularires’ Book of GreekMyths
3.
The Paper Bag Princess
4.
Corduroy
5.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
6.
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears
7.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
8.
Good Night Moon
9.
The Giving Tree
10.
Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad
Day
11.
The Snowy Day
12.
Caps for Sale
13.
Madeline
14.
The Story of Ferdinand
15.
Strega Nona
16.
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
17.
The Cat in the Hat
18.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
19.
Make Way for Ducklings
20.
Stone Soup
21.
The Rough Face Girl
22.
The Happy Hockey Family
23.
The Original Velveteen Rabbit
24.
The Stinky Cheeseman and Other Fairly Stupid
Tales
25.
Frog and Toad Are Friends
26.
Clifford the Big Red Dog
27.
The Story of Babar
28.
Lon Po Po
29.
This is Not My Hat
30.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
31.
The Wind in the Willows
32.
The Little Prince
33.
The Hundred Dresses
34.
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
35.
The Wizard of Oz
36.
Winnie the Pooh
37.
Little Bear
38.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
39.
The Big Orange Splot
40.
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
41.
My Father’s Dragon
42.
The Sweetest Fig
43.
Charlotte's Web
44.
The BFG
45.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
46.
I Capture the Castle
47.
Oh, The Places You’ll Go
Enjoy your week and read a good book!
