His hand shot up as soon as I closed A Sick Day for Amos McGee today (note that he was polite and held his comment until I finished reading). What he had to share was urgent. It was like the author was "rewinding the story" by having the zoo animals come to Mr. McGee's house and do kind things for him, he said. It was like the first half showed him getting on the bus for work and all the nice things Amos did for the animals and then the story was rewinding when the animals got on the bus to care for him. Heads nodded around the story steps, classmates echoing the sentiment.I like that phrase. Rewinding the story. What if we could all rewind our stories more often and give back when kindness is bestowed upon us? Children recognize those behaviors. They model them for each other in little ways in our library...sharpening a pencil for someone else, saying "thank you" and "you're welcome" appropriately, finding a book for a classmate, even parting with a book choice so another person can enjoy it instead.
Two readers in the alcove were rewinding Inkheart (by Cornelia Funke) in a way. In what has been a popular trend this school year, they chose a book with two copies so they could read together and share in an informal book discussion. They were reading and rereading lines together, sometimes chorally, sometimes taking turns.
What a beautiful image: two readers sharing the same book and reading lines together. I've never seen that with kids at a school before (although you and I have read books together to your classes). Thank you...and thank your students.
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