A second grade teacher left her class with me for specialist time saying, "What a bunch of characters!" This teacher faithfully reads aloud to her class and favors the books Emily Jenkins and Paul Zelinsky wrote and illustrated about Stingray, Lumphy (the buffalo), and Plastic, and The Doll People series by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin. One usually quiet boy followed up on the word character, telling the class, "If I could be a book character, I'd be Sleeping Billy from The Meanest Doll in the World." This boy's reason? "That is just the coolest name." That started a conversation in my head about book characters and who I might like to be...Caddie Woodlawn, perhaps. How about you?
Oh, I'd like to be Boyd Henshaw from DEAR MR. HENSHAW by Beverly Cleary, because in his own way he helps Leigh come to terms with his divorced family.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe Robin Hood. I always thought he was so dashing! I'd like to help the needy, but in reality I'm not nearly so brave, and I'd get tired of sleeping out in the woods. Maybe I just want to meet Robin Hood!
I can definitely see you as Caddie Woodlawn, Library Jewel!
Hmmm . . . I'd like to be the bat in The Bat Poet by Randall Jarrell. Just the thought of discovering a whole new world and writing about it gives me goosebumps. Or Fern in Charlotte's Web, knowing there is magic going on in the barn . . .
ReplyDeleteI can see you wanting to be Robin Hood, David. I knew you loved Boyd Henshaw's concern for Leigh Botts, and I can imagine you as him also.
ReplyDeleteI should have guessed about you and the bat, Joyce, knowing how much you love that book. I actually thought about how much I'd love being Fern also!