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.

We Seized the Saturday

Yesterday, was our last free Saturday for a while. Next weekend, Shannon has a soccer tournament and then our weekends will be consumed with flag football games for the boys and more soccer games for Shannon. I wanted to do something on this Saturday even though school is a week away, I had about ten loads of laundry waiting for me in the laundry room, and I've been on a quest to catch-up on my Project Life scrapbook which I am nearly finished with the first six months of 2012. I am no different than any other mom. We ALWAYS have an unfinished house project that can be tended to, a room that needs to be sorted through and cleaned, or just the everyday stuff of laundry and making dinner. But if we did not seize this Saturday, there would not be another Saturday for a while that we would be able to spend together as a family that would be outside of our normal routine of weekend sports.

We woke up and saw a crystal clear blue sky and Chris asked me, "What's left on the summer bucket list?" The kids didn't want to go tubing on the Shenandoah. Chris suggested renting kayaks on the Potomac near DC and then we could get some lunch in Georgetown. The kids didn't want to do that either. But we still hadn't gone to Assateague Island to see the wild ponies. So we packet our lunch in a cooler, threw some towels and bathing suits in a bag, headed out and hoped that route 50 wouldn't be too bad.

Our first stop was at the visitors center. We hit the bathrooms, picked up some guides and maps and talked to a ranger that told us where to find the ponies. We had two goals; to see the ponies and to go to the beach. 

This was out first sighting of some ponies. They obviously were not too close to the side of the road, but we saw them and Molly, my horse girl, was happy. At this point the kids were hungry and wanted to get to the beach to eat and to swim. So we kept on going to find the water.

We saw a number of these three-wheeled scooters that seat two. The kids loved them.

Ahhhh, and there's the water.

But it was cold.

Molly determined to get in despite the cold temperature. We were so surprised it was so cold in August.

This is the Saturday that our neighborhood kids wait anxiously for the mailman to deliver the letters from our elementary school that tell us who their teachers will be for the up coming year. Since we were not going to be home, I had my neighbor give us a call when the mail came. This was Molly doing the happy dance because she got the teacher she wanted and one of her best friends was in her class too. "Mama, this is the best day ever!!!"

So after eating our lunch, swimming in the ocean, and playing in the sand, we headed to walk some of the trails on the island in hopes of getting a closer glimpse of the wild ponies. We picked the Woodland Trail that looked like it was along side the field that we saw the ponies earlier.

It was a beautiful day for a walk. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and it really was not hot at all for an August summer day. But as we started walking along the path, we quickly started to get bitten by mosquitoes. At first it wasn't too bad, but as we walked further and further along the path, we knew we couldn't stay here long. We came to a "Pony Overlook," but no ponies were here. I tried to get a shot of the kids, but even standing still for a split second would bring the mosquitoes to land on you and have a feast. The kids struggled to get a picture.

We decided to walk a little bit further down the path and then we spotted them through the trees.

Once we saw the ponies we headed back to the car. Shannon, Timmy, and Molly took the keys and ran back. Ryan stayed behind with me and Chris. He found a stick and was swatting at the mosquitoes. It truly was a battle to keep them off you. But I do have to say, all that Virginia history that our schools drill into my kids heads stuck. As we were walking, one of the kids made a comment about the original settlers and how could they possibly deal with the bugs like this? We couldn't deal with it for just a short time, they wouldn't have had any way to get relief. A simple connection, but none the less, a connection.

So we got back to the car, drove along the main road, and the ponies that we had seen earlier were a bit closer to the road.

I wanted to get a few shots of the lighthouse. The kids begged to stay in the car because of the bugs. Chris and I jumped out, snapped our shots and then were back to the safety of the cabin of our car.

Before we drove home, we stopped for dinner and watched the sunset. It was a great way to spend the last "sportless" Saturday the Nealons will have for a while.

14 Nealons and a Treetop Adventure

So yesterday it was quite chilly and windy in the Pocono Mountains. Our lake, lunch, pool schedule was not going to do. We sat around the table after breakfast and tried to come up with a plan. Going to the movies to see Madagascar 2 was one suggestion which seemed to be an okay idea but then I think it was my brother-in-law that had a brochure for Camelback, which is one of the ski mountains here. During the summer months they have the water slides...that was not going to be an option as we sat around in our sweatshirts, but then they also have treetops adventures. That is what we were going to do on this beautiful but chilly day in the Poconos. 


14 Nealons piled into two cars and we were on our way. 

We had to split up for our treetop adventure. Molly and Mikey weren't quite tall enough for the bigger course. You had to be able to reach 5'11" with your hands over your head in order to be able to fasten and unfasten the safety clips. So Chris, Laura, and I stayed with Molly and Mikey and the rest of the Nealon gang headed to the big course.

Love this picture of Molly...another picture of her with her arms outstretched, loving life, and ready for a new adventure.

Mikey thinking about his next move.

The safety clips were not an easy thing to master for their little fingers but they did get faster with each new section when they had to clip and unclip themselves.

Mission accomplished! 

This was the safety demo where the kids learned to clip and unclip themselves and attach themselves to the zipline.

Molly and Mikey were finished before the big kids, so we went to Friendly's for lunch and ice cream.

Another Nealon memory was made. The memories that we make today, are the stories that our kids will tell tomorrow.