Caroline has begun reading on the Kindle. Since I am beginning to think there may actually be such a thing as “too many books” in the house, I am thrilled. I am also using this as an opportunity to steer Caroline away from all her re-reading and continual reading of series-only books.

Sure enough though the books that Caroline is asking me to download are all ones she has read before. When I began to bargain and say I would only download one old title for every new title she reads, she got me again (see yesterday’s post).

Caroline said, “You know why I like series books so much? It’s because books always end too soon. I always want there to be more.”

Oh fine then… again.

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I have been working hard to take my own medicine this summer.

Caroline continues to re-read  and re-read and re-read. I would say for every ten books she reads, she’ll throw in one new one.

I always talk about the importance of ‘just reading.’ Of letting children decide what to read for pleasure. Of taking any and all pressure off of reading.

I promise I haven’t said anything to her. Not directly at least.

Perhaps though, all the library books that appear on her bedside table were hint enough.

The other day she said to me, “You know how I am always re-reading. Well, each time I read a book, I read it from a different point of view.”

Oh fine then. What’s a mom to say to that?

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While I am all about authentic reading when it comes to improving reading skills, sometimes there’s a place for a game in the mix.

Two of my favorite reading games that don’t look like reading games are Blink

and Spot It!

Both of these games are fast and fun and require a crazy amount of visual discrimination. Players must decide quickly if they see matching colors, shapes, numbers, pictures. Differences will be subtle but crucial.

Whenever I play these games, I am reminded of children who struggle to read sight words. Those kids that have a hard time deciphering the difference between ‘that’ and ‘than’, ‘where’ and ‘were.’

My list of visually confusing words could go on forever and forever. Our English language is not forgiving to those who struggle with visual discrimination.

With both Blink and Spot It!, children can have laugh and play while strengthening their visual discrimination skills. Sounds like a win-win to me…

 

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Caroline turned nine yesterday.

It was last year at this time that she physically changed from a playful little girl into the gorgeous big girl she is now.

It wasn’t until this summer though that she began to seem big, mature almost.

She sits and reads for long, quiet periods of time.

She has grown up conversations at restaurants as she waits for her food, no longer ordered off the kids menu.

She acted calmly for the whole day leading  up to her first sleepover party. “I want to have another one so I’m behaving well.”, she told me, as she thought proactively.

She expresses her worries and concerns with appropriate words instead of mixed up and confused actions.

And among all that ‘grownup-ness’, she still runs and laughs and plays without hesitation.

Nine is a good age to be.

Happy Birthday to my baby girl…

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It drives me nuts when a book claims to be an ‘easy reader’ and it is truly anything but easy. Based on the rating systems that most publishers use, I am nuts most of the time.

I really am bothered by the fact that a new reader can pick up a book marked Level 1 and then be unable to read it. Talk about a fast and easy way to mess with a reader’s confidence.

So when I happen upon a book that is accurately marked, I really do smile.

The Tiny series by Cari Meister is one such group of books. Tiny is a large dog, much like Clifford, who has a human friend. Tiny and his friend go on big adventures with few words, supportive pictures and lots of white space. Most words are either easily decodable or sight words. If the words don’t fall into either of these categories they can often be deciphered by using context or picture clues.

If you have not yet met Tiny and you have a young reader, I strongly suggest that you find this great series. There is nothing like a true easy to read book to improve not only a child’s reading skills but their reading confidence as well.

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The other night, I loved a book because it made me feel like a better mom.

Caroline and Katherine had been fighting for days. The two go in phases of loving and hating each other in equal measure. As an only child, I am terribly confused by the whole sibling rivalry thing. I struggle to understand it, empathize with it and referee it.

And then I read Beezus and Ramona to Katherine.

“Mother, what am I going to do?” Beezus demanded. “It’s checked out on my card and I’m responsible. They won’t let me take any more books out of the library, and I won’t have anything to read, and it will all be Ramona’s fault. She’ always spoiling my fun and it isn’t fair!” Beezus didn’t know what she would do without her library card. She couldn’t get along without library books. She just couldn’t, that was all.

“I do not spoil your fun,” stormed Ramona. “You have all the fun. I can’t read and it isn’t fair.” Ramona’s words ended in a howl as she buried her face in her mother’s skirt.

This whole conversation could very easily have happened at our house. It seems that even my favorite fictional characters struggle with what it means to be the oldest and the youngest in the family. It seems that things aren’t fair in their world either.

As I took a deep breath, I realized that Mrs. Quimby couldn’t figure it all out either. Suddenly, it seemed like things might be ok after all…

 

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I love Read Together books at all times of the year but especially in the summer.

As parents fight to avoid the summer slide, sneaking books into the daily routine becomes even more important. I believe though that there is nothing worse than worksheets, workbooks and flashcards during these warm months. Kids should be given a break and reading should be fun, fun, fun.

Read Together books are perfect for keeping those reading skills sharp in a relaxed, low pressure kind of way. With these books, children can read part of the story (usually repetitive lines or words with super strong picture support) while their grown up reads the rest.

Snip Snap! What’s That? by Mara Bergman is a book we’ve had on our shelf for awhile now. I pulled it out the other day on a whim and sat down to read it to Katherine. To be honest, I hadn’t realized I had picked up a Read Together book until Katherine said, “Oh, Mom, can I do the “You bet they were!” part.

Can you? Of course you can! I am always thrilled to release some of the ownership of words on the page to a newly reading child. With each day, Katherine is reading more and more of our Read Together books all on her own.

While I love Snip, Snap as a read aloud, it was a lot of fun to read it together too and I suppose that really is the best kind of book…

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The other day, I walked in to Katherine’s messy room barely concealing my disgust. Another round of tidying and moving and purging. Katherine is a collector of things big and small. Any drawer, box or bag that you open in her room has a collection of seemingly unrelated things. If you ask her about it though she will provide with a perfectly reasonable explanation for why those things are exactly where they are.

As I began to clear off Katherine’s bed, I paused at the moment in time captured by the still life of mess.

On her bed was her new favorite stuffy, a pink and black male leopard named Rainbow. He snuggled up to a pine cone, one of a collection gathered during neighborhood walks with Daisy, then cleaned and put in various boxes throughout the room. Behind Rainbow sat a small lava lamp that Katherine uses to light the fort she has created out of blankets and pillows at the top of our stairs. She has made this fort now for four days straight. On the other side of the bed is an American Girl magazine, marked with answers to quiz questions and circles around ideas for projects. And in front of the magazine sits a calculator, one of Katherine’s favorite toys that she will use to add and subtract bigger and bigger numbers.

Somehow, in the moment I realized I needed to photograph the mess. To hold in place that one moment of time that when looked at and understood tells such a perfect story of a six year old little girl.

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Oprah has re-launched her book club with on the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Now even though I often found Oprah’s books terribly depressing, I was really excited when I heard the news. I love the buzz that her books get, the recognition, the common language around them. And quickly, Wild by Cheryl Strayed was no exception. I started hearing about this book everywhere.

Part Eat, Pray, Love, part Into Thin Air and all wonderful. Cheryl Strayed tells the story of her hike along the Pacific Coast Trail as she walks to put her broken life back together. I read this book in just a few short days, thinking about it all the time. When I wasn’t reading, I was trying to figure out when I could next sit to read. The story is heart wrenching, funny and inspirational. And the writing is unbelievable.

A reader commented on one of my favorite blogs, that everyone in the world should read this book. While this recommendation might seem a bit over the top, I agree. If you haven’t yet been caught up in the hype, let yourself be. This is a must read.

 

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For months, I feel like I have been reading about the middle grade novel, See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles.

First the book was featured as part of a book discussion held by Jen Vincent and Colby Sharp at Teach Mentor Text.

Then I learned more about the lovely Jo Knowles through my participation in Kate Messner’s amazing community of summer writing, Teachers Write.

And then See You at Harry’s appeared on the wonderfully talented Meg Medina‘s Girls of Summer 2012 reading list.

The universe apparently wanted me to read See You at Harry’s.

I began the book during the late afternoon. Having taken a break for mothering (you know, dinner and bedtime) around 10pm, already past my bed time, I began sobbing. And then, I absolutely, positively had to stay awake until I had finished. Until I knew that “all would be well”.

We get up really early around here so we are really good about going to bed early. I almost never stay up late. But I couldn’t help it. This is a book that you almost must read in one sitting. The writing and the story are just that good.

Now though, before you get too excited and run off to order the book, it is terribly, terribly sad. And the sad seems to come out of nowhere. If you are not a sad book reader, I really need to warn you. You can’t say I didn’t. But if you can handle the sad, please read this book. I can’t seem to stop thinking about it.

And I’d like to talk about it with people. My biggest question is how this book is read by children. As a mother, I found the sadness nearly unbearable. I imagine that children would not feel the same way.

Thoughts?

 

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