Warm Winter Day

I love winter. Really. I prefer winter's chill to summer's heat and humidity. I love snow (and more snow like we received today). I love winds that swirl the snow into mini-tornadoes. I love donning layers and heading out for a brisk walk.

But most of all, I love winter's warmth. Lauren Stringer but that love into words in her beautiful book Winter is the Warmest Season. Winter is warm with hot chocolate, grilled cheese sandwiches, oven-hot breads, hot baths, and blankets. "In winter, bodies sit closer, books last longer, and hugs squeeze the warmest," writes Lauren.

The birds did not visit the snow-covered feeder today (neither did the squirrels), but I watched for them as I stitched patterns of a warm quilt, drank hot tea, and savored numerous books (Sir Charlie by Sid Fleischman, The Rooster Prince of Breslov by Ann Redisch Stampler, Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer, and the beginning of Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage by Hazel Rowley). Now I am ready to snuggle close with the other winter-lovers in my house.

Lights Out

"He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop."

Often when I am walking or running in the pre-dawn hours, a street lamp will suddenly go dark. The first time it happened, I wondered if perhaps a man with a long, silvery beard, wearing buckled boots and a purple cloak would emerge from the shadows. Could Albus Dumbledore be in my neighborhood? I know, of course, the impossible nature of what I wonder. Professor Dumbledore is a beloved character first introduced in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. A magical device could not snuff out the street lights with a click and a pop. Still. It somehow comforts me to imagine him watching me, giving me a "lights out" signal.

Have You Read? #7

My mom faithfully saves the paper copies of BookPage for me (paid for by our home library system), and I scan the issue for titles I want to reserve from my public library. Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books by William Kuhn was reviewed a few months ago, and I was eager to read about Jacqueline Onassis through the books she edited while at Viking and Doubleday. In many ways, her status allowed her latitude and decisions not granted to others; she published many obscure titles that would not sell particularly well. Her influence on the authors she published was huge. Peter Sis recalls "she was one of the most inspiring editors I ever worked with." In fact, she was the first for him.

As I read about her as an editor, her character and personality traits became clearer than from anything I have ever read about her high-profile life. The knowledge of her through her books prompted me to look through my own reading lists to see what the books reveal about me. The countless readings of my all-time favorite young people's novel, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, reveals my love of Michelangelo (I have read The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone three times), my fascination with art history, my dream of spending a night in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Perhaps my love of Don Freeman's Corduroy says much the same about being able to stay overnight in a department store like Macy's. The multiple readings of To Kill a Mockingbird reveal my admiration for people who stand up for what is right, maintaining dignity and calm for those involved.

What do our book choices and shelves tell about us? A great deal, I think. With students, I learn their preferences and find new things for them to read and titles that will extend their interests. Take time to observe others' choices and ponder what they tell about them.

We're Not Models

Paired reading continues. Two second graders checked out identical books: Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants and Alvin Schwartz's In a Dark, Dark Room. They read side by side on the soft chairs in a library corner. I took one photograph from the front side. When I moved behind them, I heard, "We're not models." They quickly covered their heads with the books.

Over by the story steps, in my rocking chair, sat another reader reading in a different way. With Barbara Cooney's version of Chanticleer and the Fox in her hands, she read upside down to a small audience. Reading upside down is a desired skill by many students, but this reader was the first to display it in public.

Surprise Reader in the Aisle

When my sons were in elementary school, they stayed after school until we could all walk home together. I loved finding them after school hours reading on the floor between the shelves. Those images of intense concentration remain in my mind.

Last night my son and I were at Target. I always walk through the book aisles to see what titles they are selling and what new books pique my interest. As I turned the corner to the chapter book offerings, a pair of extended legs met my glance. Upon closer inspection of the head, I recognized one of my students. "Oh, hi," he greeted me with a smile and strong eye contact. His book stayed open. Clearly, he wanted to keep reading. What are you reading? I asked. "Percy Jackson," he replied. His mom and sisters joined us, giving him the opportunity to get back to the book.

Tool Belt Point of View

From one angle, this bunch of petunias blooms from a yellow pot. From another view, it is set in a pot upon a sunny chair in my mom's garden. Point of view changes from our direction, of course. What one person sees, another person might overlook. It happened to me at yoga last night when our instructor thought it was too early to begin. When she stepped from her side view to look at the clock face forward, it was time to begin.

Today the point-of-view shift happened for me with third graders while sharing Chris Monroe's Monkey With a Tool Belt and Monkey With a Tool Belt and the Noisy Problem. Readers and listeners love Chico Bon Bon's twelve-part plan to escape from the organ grinder's box. They love when the organ grinder's toe gets hit with Chico Bon Bon's rubber mallet. But they really love the page where Chico Bon Bon stands facing proudly forward with his incredibly compartmentalized tool belt around his waist. A line points from the tool labels to the tools themselves. There are always chuckles when I read in order "monkey wrench, turkey wrench, donkey wrench" or "pajama hammer, banana hammer, clam hammer."

When Chico Bon Bon is tucked in bed with his tool belt, I show them the second book about this crafty monkey and how he determines the location of the noisy problem (an elephant has clogged his laundry chute!). This book also shows the monkey with his tool belt, only this time the tools are not quite the same. One astute observer asked me to show both the pages of Chico Bon Bon with his tool belt side by side. Look how the second one shows him from the side, he told us. In all the times I have read both books, I never noticed the shift in point-of-view to that profile view! Another lesson learned from a child.

Rippling Effect

Last week I read "Artemis Begins" to a fourth grade reading class. Immediately, the students raced to the fiction shelves to find F COL, wanting copies of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books. Today, their teacher practically bounced into my office, wanting to share a story about two of those readers. They had each checked out the same book. They were reading and writing notes to each other. One had questions which the other could answer. Was that okay? wondered the girls. They were keeping track of their understanding by writing a summary of each chapter and then comparing them. Was that okay, too?

The teacher, of course, was delighted. What began as a read-aloud selection has evolved into a shared reading experience in which each reader is learning and teaching, sharing and extending thoughts. Amazingly, none of it was required reading...and nothing was assigned.

Stories like "Artemis Begins" engage readers and lead to extraordinary reading experiences.