Lessons from the Fairy Tales

Molly and I are on day 311 of our read aloud streak. I have been reading to her everyday for 311 days straight. We have read 18 books so far together. Molly has been very much into fairy tales lately. She has a book of Hans Christian Andersen stories that she pulls out every so often and now she is reading from these fairy tale books that were mine when I was little. Sometimes she enjoys reading a story from start to finish in one sitting instead of a whole chapter book.

                     

During the school year, I watch very little TV. By the time the kids get home from all their sports, eating dinner, and then getting ready for the next day, it is time to go to bed. But recently we got Netflix and being that's it's summer, I've watched a few series that I have heard are good. I've seen commercials for the series Once Upon A Time and tried to watch it a couple of times, but it is one of those series that you need to watch each week to understand what's going on. I've tried to DVR series before, but by the time I get a chance to sit down (or lie down in bed) to watch something, I usually fall asleep and by the time I get around to it, it's already the next week and a new episode and I just never seem to keep up. 

But now that we have Netflix, I can watch at my own pace and so I thought Molly and I could watch Once Upon A Time together since she has been so interested in fairy tales. 

We are loving it! Every time a new character is introduced, she tries to figure out which fairy tale character he or she is. She has gone back to my old fairy tale books to reread the original stories to refresh her memory or read the story for the first time if she hasn't read that story yet. The other day, Molly came to me and asked if we had any chapter books that are based on fairy tales. I told her we could look through our book shelves.

This is what we found!

Years ago if you were to ask me what genre I enjoyed reading the most, I would have said realistic fiction and historical fiction. I never would have answered fantasy. It is not what I would have grabbed off the shelf of a bookstore or the library. But since Molly and I have started this read aloud streak, I have noticed that most of the books do have fantasy in them. We have read four Mary Poppins books, fantasy, Roald Dahl books, fantasy, The Wizard of Oz, fantasy, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, fantasy. We have only read a few books that are realistic fiction but I have really enjoyed these fantasy books we have read. 

Back at the end of the school year, Molly's teacher told me that they were starting their fantasy unit in language arts and asked me to bring in some books for a read aloud to introduce the lesson. When I started researching a bit, this whole genre of fantasy, I realized there are all these sub-categories of fantasy, many, many sub-categories. So to try to make it simple for Molly's fourth grade class, I broke it down into three categories: high fantasy, low fantasy, and portal fantasy. 

High fantasy takes place in an alternate world, there really isn't anything of this world in the story. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings would be a great example. I never read it. Again, I always though I didn't like fantasy.

Low Fantasy is set in our ordinary everyday world with some magical elements sprinkled throughout the book. Molly and I read A Snicker of Magic, and Savvy. I really enjoyed these books.

Portal Fantasy takes place in our everyday world and an alternate world. There is some sort of portal between the two worlds. The Wizard of Oz, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe are all example of portal books. They all start out in this world, but the main characters all find themselves in an alternate world through a portal. 

The TV series Once Upon a Time is a portal fantasy. The fairy tale characters have been cursed from their world and are now in our world. The show goes back and forth between present time, in our world, and then flashbacks to when they were in their fantasyland. What I love about the series is that the two villains are Snow White's evil step mother and Rumpelstiltskin. We hate these characters. They are mean and evil, why wouldn't you? But little by little, you learn about their background and why they are the way that they are. It's a little bit like the play Wicked. We all grew up scared of the Wicked Witch of the West, but the play explains how she got to be the way that she is, you start to empathize with her. You start to understand her. 

And shouldn't we all do a little more of that? I wonder if adults had a little more empathy for each other, maybe the world would be a little bit gentler. It's all in the point of view, we need to understand more that no one side can be completely right and the other side completely wrong. Molly and I just finished listening to the book The Julian Chapter. It is Julian's point of view from the book Wonder which is an awesome book about bullying and empathy and a whole lot of good things with great discussions to be had with your children. Each section of Wonder is written from a different point of view. Every one is represented, except the bully, Julian. The Julian Chapter is his story. We listened to it during the car ride to Ocean City this past weekend. I did not feel sorry for Julian, it does not excuse him from the things that he did in the book Wonder, but you do start to understand him better and as an adult, and a parent, it made me think about ways to teach kids kindness because Julian truly didn't understand what he did was wrong...at first.

Right now, Molly and I are reading Rump. It is Rumpelstiltskin's story. We are only up to chapter three, but we already can empathize with him. The first line is, "My mother named me after a cow's rear end." Think about it, the kid doesn't have a chance with a name like Rump. Molly has been reading these fairy tales that are hundreds of years old. We are reading books and watching a TV show that are based on these stories from hundreds of years ago. There must be a reason why these stories have stood the test of time. They lead us to use our imagination, to add on to the the stories, to come up with prequels and sequels. There are lessons to be learned.

I have learned two things this summer from our reading; first, I like fantasy, low fantasy and portal fantasy and fair tale fantasy. The second, is that the more you read books, especially ones that have good vs. evil themes, ones with a definite bad guy, that bad guy is never exactly what they appear to be, there always is a reason for the way that they are, and if we could just apply that to the real world, to that grumpy person we just met in the mall or the lady that yelled at you in the grocery store, that maybe before we judge them, we take a moment to think that maybe this person is having bad day and that we should just...be...kind.

  

Kindness Counts!

Every Book Has Three Stories

They are gone. All four of them are finally back to school. They have been home for 9 days straight...two weekend days, one holiday, three snow days, one teacher workday, two more weekend days...put it all together and you get one long break at home. I love snow days. I loved them when I was a kid, I loved them when I was a teacher, and I love them now. But it was time for the kiddies to get back into a routine. 

After dropping off the high schooler, I sat down at the computer, went through emails, wrote some activities into my plan book and then watched the ALA (American Library Association) Awards on a webstream. Today is the day they announced the Newbery Award and the Caldecott Award amongst a number of other awards. Yes, the nerdy book lady in me finds this exciting. It may not be the Golden Globes or the Grammys, but it is exciting none the less. I'm always anxious to see if one of the winners is a book that I have read during the year. Last year, The One and Only Ivan had won the Newbery and not only did I read it, but Molly, Ryan and Timmy had all read it as well. 

This year the winner is Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo. I read this book when it first came out and fell in love with the story. I actually have read all of her novels. Molly read it after me, loved it, and gave it to a friend in her class so she could read it over Christmas break. I also told Molly's class about the book and how great of a story it was and then sure enough, I saw a library copy on one desk the next time I visited. Another little girl told me that she got a copy at the book fair. Book talks and word of mouth is one of the best ways to get kids to read. 

I haven't read to Molly's class since before Christmas break. We have had so many snow days and the class' schedule is getting fuller with more demands of things that need to get taught that there just hasn't been time to read. I needed to touch base with Molly's teacher about a new time that she wanted me to come in, so I stopped by the classroom at the end of the day to go over her schedule. I was only there for about 10 minutes as the kids packed up their backpacks and waited for their buses to be called, but it was the best 10 minutes of my day. I hadn't seen them since December, but as soon as they saw me, they were so eager to tell me what they were reading. One little girl had a whole list, "Mrs. Nealon, I'm reading One for the Murphys right now, but when I'm done with that one I'm going to read Gingersnap and then Counting by 7's." She had a plan. She had a to-be-read pile. They were so excited to tell me about the books they are reading and I was so excited to tell them that Flora and Ulysses won the Newbery. In just those 10 minutes, that time when they were packing up, that time that may be looked upon as wasted time, was filled with book talk. They asked me when I was coming back to read. I told them that I would be in this week and that I would read part of Flora and Ulysses. I told them that I already ordered them a copy of the book for the classroom and would bring it in as soon as it came in. I felt their excitement and energy and it just brought a smile to my face.

Today I read a post on the Nerdy Book Club blog that read, 

"Every book has three stories - the one it tells, the story behind it, and what happens when it connects with readers."

This is amazingly true. It was a light bulb, an "ah ha" moment for me. Of course, every books tells a story, but if I really love a book, I usually then google the author, see if they have a website, try to find out the story behind the story. This was true after reading The One and Only Ivan. I found out that there was a real Ivan that was the inspiration for the book and that he lived in the Atlanta Zoo until he died in August of 2012. I found the second story of the book. 

The third story, is my story. About me sharing the book with my kids. About dinner conversations about the book. About reading it to Molly's class. About how they were so excited on Thursday afternoons to hear what was going to happen next. About creating our own mural, one like Ivan had made it the book. This was our story, the third story.

The third story, the one that connects the book to the reader I think is the most important one. There is one story in the pages of the book, but there are thousands, millions of stories that can be told about how the book connected to all its readers. We all have our individual book story which then becomes our memories. I remember my mom reading bedtime stories to me. I remember The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew being a favorite and reading it over and over again. I remember her reading chapter books aloud to us when we got older, The Prince and the Pauper, The Black Stallion, and Black Beauty, usually during the summer time to try to keep the reading going while we weren't in school. I remember the first time a friend recommended a book to me and then loving it and then reading all the books in the series. I can remember reading certain books at certain times of year and where I was while I was reading them. I can remember which books I read on the beach in Kiawah, which books I read late at night snuggled in my own warm bed, and which books I read in carlines, dentist appointments and waiting at soccer practices.

Now my book memories are with my kids. I can tell you which books they loved to hear over and over again when they were little, and now that they are older, we talk about the books that we read. When I ask them, "What are you up to in your book?" They know not to tell me a page number, but a summary of what they just read, especially if they know I have read the book as well.

Molly and I especially have created our own book memories. After reading Matilda, we went to New York to see the show on Broadway. We went with my sister-in-law and Molly's cousin, memories were made. 

After reading From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see all the places that were mentioned in the book. Memories were made.

And sometimes just visiting a place that is in a book, creates a memory.

Right now, Molly and I are reading Boy by Roald Dahl. It is a memoir of his childhood. What's on Molly's and my bucket list is a trip to London. She has a thing for England. We just finished the third Mary Poppins book. She loves Roald Dahl books. I would love to bring her to England to see the places that are mentioned in the books we have read. I would love to bring her to the Roald Dahl museum and to see the  musical Willy Wonka playing in the West End. Ah, but to dream. It won't be happening any time soon, so we will just have to continue to travel there through our books. 

“When we read together—when a grandfather reads to a granddaughter, when a teacher reads to a classroom, when a parent reads to a child, when a sister reads to a brother, when everyone in a town reads the same book silently, together—we are taken out of our aloneness. 
Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another. 
We connect. 
And when we connect, we are changed.”
~Kate DiCamillo, Author of Flora and Ulysses

You can find all the winners and honor books from the awards here.

The Molly and Mommy Mega Mania Miraculous Magical Read Aloud

It's been a rainy few days, light rain, heavy rain, drizzly rain, scattered rain, just plain gray, dreary rain. But there is something about the rain that slows us down at times. The house just feels cozier. Friday night we put on our pj's, we ate pizza, and watched movies. It was pouring when we went to bed and you could hear the rhythmic sound of the rain hitting the roof. When I woke up on Saturday, it felt like a holiday. Shannon's soccer tournament was cancelled this weekend. So instead of waking up at 5:00 a.m. to drive an hour away for the first game time of the day, we got to sleep-in. We had nowhere to go, there was nothing on the schedule, we woke up not to an alarm but naturally, I sat on my living room couch and finished my book, Molly and I read aloud another chapter of Mary Poppins. It was great! 

On Friday evening, while in my pj's folding laundry and ironing sheets in my room, I popped in a favorite movie of mine, You've Got Mail. Have you ever watched a movie or read a book and thought if I didn't have the life I had, I would live that life? Well, if I didn't become a teacher and move to Virginia and then become a stay at home mom to my kids, I would want to be Kathleen Kelly in You've Got Mail. I would want to own an enchanting little children's book shop in New York City and have read aloud everyday and help children pick out their next favorite book. There is a part in the movie that Meg Ryan (Kathleen Kelly) is talking to Tom Hanks about her mother. The book store used to be her mother's and she tells him that, "It wasn't just that she was selling books, she was helping people become whoever it was they were going to be because when you read a book as a child it becomes a part of your identity in a way no other reading in your whole life does." This is my favorite line. It's kind of ironic watching the movie now. I think it came out in 1998 and Kathleen Kelly's book store is being put out of business because a big discount chain bookstore opened in her neighborhood. Nowadays, you can't even find a big chain book store because of Amazon and e-readers. Now I love Amazon, but there is also something about being in a book store, seeing and feeling the books in person, reading the back jacket or the first few pages with the book actually in your hand and not on the computer. I have a kindle, but I prefer the paper book. I like moving my book mark as I read each day, flipping through the pages to see where the end of the chapter is, and sometimes reading with a pencil in hand and writing a note or underlining a great line. I read aloud to Molly's class the other day and a little girl saw me take the front flap of the book and move it as a placeholder for when I come back to read the next time. She asked me what I was going to do when we get toward the end of the book and the front book flap doesn't reach our place. I showed her that's when we start using the back flap of the book. She thought this was the best idea ever and that I was a genius for thinking of this.

There's another scene in the movie when Meg Ryan is reading aloud Boy by Roald Dahl to the children in her store. As I watch this scene, you can see the children completely engaged in the story. Now, I know it is only a movie, but I see the same thing when I go into classrooms and read aloud.  Reading aloud to Molly's class is a highlight of my week. There is something about certain books that scream, even cry to be read out loud! Some books are so rich with language and vocabulary that you lose something when the words are not said aloud, words like flabbergasted, ramshackle, pandemonium, vermicious, and fishmonger. And then there are words that are throughout a book, almost on every page and you don't quite know the correct pronunciation so you look it up on the computer so you can hear the word. That would be perambulator in Mary Poppins for me.

I've just finished reading The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma. It has been in my to-be-read pile for over a year. I used to talk to Molly's principal often about books before she passed away. This was the last book that we spoke about. I was in her office asking her a question and it happen to be sitting on her desk and I had recently bought it myself, but hadn't read it yet. Well, I finally read it this past week. The author was 22 when she wrote the book. When Alice was in fourth grade, her father, who happened to be an elementary school librarian, suggested reading together for 100 days. When Alice's older sister was in fourth grade, she no longer wanted her father to read to her, and he was in fear that the same would happen with Alice. Well, the streak of the father-daughter read aloud lasted until the day she went to college. The Reading Promise is a memoir of their reading.

Molly and I started our own streak. I shared with Molly what the book was about and said we could try for 100 days. So far, we are up to day 16. January 6 will be day 100. I printed out a calendar so that she could mark off the days. She suggested that we write down the books on the day that we finished them. Just like Alice and her father, it wasn't a hard thing to start. Molly and I read quite often together. I have read to all of my children, but it is Molly that is the most engaged and loves the closeness of snuggling up to one another and sharing a story. Just like Alice, Molly is my youngest and as a parent, sometimes you try to hold on to things as long as possible because you know one day we will no longer have these moments.

So will Molly and I get to 100 days? I don't know, we have a few holidays in there and school breaks that tend to throw us out of our routine, but we will try. Molly even named our streak, if you can call 16 days a streak...The Molly and Mommy Mega Mania Miraculous Magical Read Aloud!

A Castle, a Museum and a Zoo All Because of a Book

This past summer Molly and I read aloud together The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. It was published in 1967 and won the Newbery Medal. It's a story about a sister and brother that run away from home and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While reading the book, Molly came up with the idea to go visit the museum and see the things that Claudia and Jamie saw in the book. So that's exactly what we did this weekend.

Ryan didn't have anything on his schedule this weekend so he joined us as well. He didn't read the book, but he now knows the story of Claudia and Jamie.

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful fall day in New York. The sky couldn't be any bluer and it was about 72 degrees. It was perfect. We had three things on our list of things to see; The Belvedere Castle, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Central Park Zoo. When we finally got up to the museum, we saw all these police officers lined up. The museum is in Central Park and there was a concert in the park that day.   I think the officers were getting their assignments for the day.

I've always wanted to see the Belvedere Castle. I've seen it in a number of movies and just wanted to see it in person. It just happens to be a short walk from the museum. But when we got there, it was barricaded off because of the concert. There was a police officer standing guard that informed us that it was closed, but when I asked if we could just take a picture he said sure. He even lent his hat for Ryan and Molly to pose in.  He is usually assigned to a precinct in the Bronx.  He said that they brought in a number of police officers and assigned them to the park for the day. He said it was like a vacation day.

This is what he got to look at for the day. 

So now it was time to explore the museum for a few hours, but not before Ryan and Molly climbed some rocks and a tree or two.

Ahhh, we made it! We brought the book so we could take a picture in The Great Hall, which is also on the cover of the book. The Metropolitan Museum gets so many inquires about the book that I found a whole guide online to visiting the museum in reference to the book. Since the book was published in 1967, not everything is the same, but the guide makes suggestions to see other things in its place.

The Egyptian Exhibit. 

Do you remember this scene in When Harry Met Sally? They were at the Met.

A Vanderbilt mantle.  We visited the Vanderbilt Biltmore Estate this past summer.

Molly found this penny on this angel pulpit staircase (look on the fingers).

A bed that Claudia and Jamie could have slept in while living in the museum.

It really is amazing to see some pieces of artwork in person. I forgot how big this painting is. A picture in a history book just doesn't do it justice. 

After a few hours of exploring the museum, it was time to start walking toward the Central Park Zoo. Central Park is beautiful, and there is such a positive energy to it. Everyone was out just enjoying the magnificent weather. It is filled with street performers, musicians, face painters, balloon makers, portrait artists, children running ahead of their parents, and parents calling out to them to slow down.

 After climbing some more trees, and watching the boats, and enjoying a few street performers, we made it to the zoo.

After the zoo, Ryan and Molly wanted to go to one of the playgrounds that we passed. While they ran around and played, my mom and I sat on a bench and watched. I love reading all the plaques.

I loved this one...

And this one...

And then a few benches over, we found this one...love it.

This little two year old fell in love with Molly and would not leave her side.

We spent an entire day in Central Park...

All because this little one wanted to visit a museum in a book.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could visit all the places in the books we read? Molly and I are finishing up The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck. It's about a mouse that lives at Buckingham Palace. Hmmm, that one will have to go on our Someday list.

"The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives. She went on olden-day sailing ships with Joseph Conrad. She went to Africa with Ernest Hemingway and to India with Rudyard Kipling. She travelled all over the world while sitting in her little room in an English village."
                                                           ~Matilda, Roald Dahl