Why Do You Read (semi) meme

I got this from Dewey who got it from Care. The question is simple. Why do we read?

Dewey's answer was great. It was partly universal and partly personal. In particular I have to shout a loud Amen to this: "In a way, reading serves a similar purpose for me, physically, that sleeping does." And I gotta love this: "I also read because I’m an extremely verbal person. My whole life revolves around language and literature and communication; it’s really not just the leisure reading thing."

I read because it feeds me; it nourishes me. Not only could I not imagine going a few days or a few weeks without reading, it's hard for me to longer than a half a day without picking up a book. I'm a book glutton. (That's why migraines are the worst of the worst. Sometimes I probably push the limit--either way when they're coming or going--just because I can't take it.) Reading is personal. It's something I do alone. It's something that secludes me from the world while I'm doing it. It's me time pure and simple. Good, old-fashioned, quality me-time. I do a lot of reading at night. Probably a little over half my reading is done after 10PM. It's not unheard of for me to read a bit here and there throughout the day. But at night it's all about me. It's all about the book. No interruptions. Perfect peace. I am content as long as there is a pile of books by my bed. Reading recharges me. (Though some books act like more of a drain.) Reading refreshes me. I read because it keeps me sane. It keeps me happy. It satisfies.

But I also read to connect with the world around me. Books help me process everything. I grew up, for the most part, in a reading household. My mom, my sister, and I all read books. And for the most part, we had a shared reading history there for a while. My mom would read aloud to us. She'd buy us books. So whether we were reading them for the second or the fiftieth time, we shared a bond not only with the book, but with each other. We three--but especially mom and I--speak the language of books. Reading is such a fundamental part of who we are, that it provides the framework for a good many of our discussions, our conversations. It's our own inside-language if you will.

But it's not just a family thing--important as that is--reading helps build relationships. It does. The bond you form with a book--or perhaps I should word that the bond I form with a book--translates easily into forming bonds with another reader. You can "bond" in minutes with someone once you know what books you've read and loved and have in common.

I do have a few friends that don't read. Or read that much. So it isn't a prerequisite necessarily.

But some of my best friends (I'm thinking of two in particular) became my best friends because of books. (Well books and food). There are few things better than bookish conversations. (Unless they're bookish conversations in a food-friendly environment). Book conversations can make two strangers friends if the talk is good. Out of a room of people, a class room, was it an accident that I became bonded to someone who grew up reading Gone With The Wind and To Kill A Mockingbird? I think not! We've had thousands of conversations since then, discussed thousands of books since then.

But talking about books is one of the fastest ways I know to make friends. I think it is because you get to have some idea what a person is like based on what their favorite books are. If you find someone that shares your tastes not always, not completely, but most of the time, you feel a strong connection--a strong intuition--that you might be similar in other ways. That you might get along well with each other.

And I haven't even gotten to the blogging world. The book blogosphere is so incredibly awesome. You read so you can be a part of something greater than yourself. You read to be a part of the community. It's all give and take. You take and give back from the community. It refreshes you; it inspires you. And in return you give back what you've learned. You give back a part of yourself.

Reading connects you with the author, connects you with the actual book, connects you with every other reader who has picked up that book, connects you with a time and place.

Aren't there certain books where you can remember what you were doing, where you were, how you were feeling when you first picked them up? Or am I the only one out there that gets this connected. There are some books I associate with a certain time, place, and sometimes even a smell. I read with my senses. If I read a book while listening to music, I connect that music with the book.

Anyway, if you want to share your thoughts, leave a comment or post on your own blog. But please think to leave a link if you do so I can read what you have to say!

What is January for you?

I don't typically ask my readers to answer questions and enter into a conversation--although I always welcome participation through comments and emails--but I've been thinking recently about the month of January. (Thinking can be dangerous I know). The new year can bring many things with it. A few weeks of *hoping* those resolutions will stick, along with the fear that backsliding right back into bad habits is just a few days--or a few weeks away.

But January for me is something altogether different. If I were to proclaim January with a title like "National fill-in-the-blank month." January would be--at least for me--Overwhelm Yourself At the Library Month. Now it's true, Overwhelm Yourself At the Library Month could technically belong to any or all of the twelve months depending on your habits. But for me, January has typically spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Why? Maybe because my appetite for books is at an all-time high. December is usually a slow month for me as far as visiting the library is concerned. When given the choice of going Christmas shopping or staying home and baking cookies or wrapping presents--or attending Christmas services and pageants and such--the library takes a backseat to the holiday festivities. So much so that I become over-eager come January to visit the library.

Last year, I ended up checking out over seventy books in one month. I got into a library debt--not actually debt but more of a guilty obligation--because of the number of books out on my card. It became a vicious cycle of renewing books week after week. Hoping against all hope that I could get all the books read. I began to *hate* the library. (Not really. I could never hate the library for a long period of time.) But you have to admit that when you have to renew books by telephone listening to the bar codes of sixty or seventy books read by computer digit by digit...it will make you a bit cranky. (And not prone to repeat the insanity.)

So knowing the dangers the month can bring, what did I do? Three guesses anyone??? Yes, I went to the library. I now have 32 books checked out. Of the 32, 6 aren't mine. (5 for mom and 1 for dad.) But even still 26 books is a lot. This is just the starting point. If I can *restrain* myself, maybe just maybe I can avoid the slippery slope of being overwhelmed by library books. (Am I even capable of restraint?) But my philosophy tends to push the extremes. (Have you noticed???) The only thing that stops me from checking out books is when I reach my capacity for carrying books. And since I go in a bunch--three people--that is three sets of arms that I can weigh down if I need to! Though I typically try to limit it to what I can personally carry.

Another reason January lends itself well to being "Overwhelm Yourself At the Library" month is that it is awards and best-of season. All the tantalizing titles that are suddenly proclaimed the best of the best and true must-reads. Fortunately, this year I have some of the award-winners at home to keep me busy. I'll just have to hunt down a few books in the upcoming weeks.

So, what does January mean to you?

Happy New Year Everyone!

I'm not big on making New Years' resolutions. They're always a bit too grandiose and out of reach. Completely unrealistic. Like I'm going to wake up suddenly *different* one morning and be this perfect person. Change takes work, and since it requires consistency day after day after day whether you "feel" like it or not. It is always easier to put it off, push it aside, say you'll make the effort next week or next month. But concrete goals are a different matter. I'm not saying that I don't want to achieve loftier goals for the new year. But I'd rather have a few realistic ones than a long list of dreams and wishes.

I'm happy with how things are at Becky's Book Reviews. I like the structure of having interviews on Mondays and Travel-the-World features on Wednesdays. I like having reviews at all times in between. I like participating in the occasional meme. And I do enjoy posting the occasional youtube video. :) You need to insert a little fun into your life now and then. And those seemingly off-topic posts do just that for me.

But I would like to see more structure and polish at two of my other sites. Young Readers is a blog I created for reviewing books for those aged 0 to 9. But my philosophy has been, review what you want, when you want. I might post six reviews in one or two days...but then not post again for two weeks. I would *love* to commit to seven reviews a week. But, I'm realistic as well. I'd be happy to commit to five reviews a week. But even with five as my target goal, I'm unsure how quickly this change will come about. I need to change my thinking. I know that good things are possible. I just have to *want* it badly enough to work for it.

I would also like to see more structure at my Christian site, Becky's Christian Reviews. I am semi-ashamed of this one. I had high hopes of being wonder-woman. A woman who could review a new young adult book each and every day. WHILE also reading Christian fiction or nonfiction for review. It was a laughable scheme in some ways. I still want to make a success of it. But the truth is, I'm not sure how to redeem it. In the summer, I set a goal of reading 5 to 7 young adult books a week, and 2-3 Christian books a week. I would *like* to commit to that for this new year as well. BUT I'm hesitating a bit. I don't know how realistic it is in the long-term. So my perhaps realistic goal--maybe--is to read 8 Christian books a month. Given the month, that would equal one and a half books a week. (Some months it might be closer to two books a week.) That seems more feasible. But it might still be a stretch. Still, I'm willing to give it a try.

My non-blogging goals (yes, I have those too!) include the unrealistic goal or expectation that I would actually listen to the podcasts I download each day. I am subscribed, currently, to twelve podcasts. Five of the twelve only update once a week, but seven post new episodes five days a week. They vary in length from thirteen minutes to thirty minutes. I've been "listening" to some of these for several years. But I average listening to maybe 2 to 5% of what I actually download. Which is just sad.

Another goal I have for the new year is to read the Bible. I'm not going to blog about it. I'm not going to turn Becky's Book Reviews into a religious site or anything. I keep my spiritual life private and off limits. I feel my blogging influences my spiritual life more than my spiritual life influences my blogging. Since I've started blogging, I've read and prayed less and less and less and less. I have minute by minute, day by day, perhaps without making a deliberate, firm decision sacrificed my private time for devotions and instead devoted my time to reading books for review. So I'd like to change that. I'd like to make God a priority again. I still plan on reading books full-time. But I'd like to change my life--perhaps reduce TV time if I must--so that I can have twenty or thirty minutes of devotions each day as well. I've never struggled finding time to do the things I want--reading books or watch tv or listening to music--yet I make excuses about not having time for God. I need to change, transform, my thinking on this one. I think I'd be happier if I did.

2007: Rewinding to Find the Best...

I read so many great books this past year. I haven't kept track of how many books or how many pages like so many of you do. (Math never being my strongest subject.) But I thought I would take a bit of time to look back at this past year. I think almost without a doubt that the author whose work I became most obsessed with was Margaret Peterson Haddix. I believe I read fourteen of her books in the past twelve months. (If you can trust my math that is) H.G. Wells was another obsession coming in with eight books. But of course it's not quantity necessarily as much as quality. For the record, I didn't consider books that I was rereading. Yes, I love Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead and Pastwatch and Worthing Saga...but I knew that already. I read them (for the first time) about six years ago. I value rereading, I love to squeeze it in when I can. But this is all about new discoveries, new favorites, new finds, new obsessions.

Authors (most not particularly new) that I *discovered* and /or *loved* and/or became obsessed with in 2007

Margaret Peterson Haddix: Just Ella, Turnabout, Shadow Children series--seven books in all, Running Out of Time, Because of Anya, Double Identity, Escape From Memory, Takeoffs and Landings
Jeanne DuPrau: City of Ember, People of Sparks, The Prophet of Yonwood.
Michael Buckley: The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy Tales Detective, The Sisters Grimm: The Unusual Suspects, The Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child, Sisters Grimm: Once Upon A Crime.
Kate diCamillo: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Tale of Despereaux
Jonathan Stroud: The Amulet of Samarkand, Golem's Eye, and Ptolemy's Gate.
Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Martian Chronicles, Quicker Than Dead,
H.G. Wells: The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon, The Food of the Gods, When the Sleeper Wakes.

Favorite Books Not Published in 2007

Home and Other Big, Fat Lies by Jill Wolfson. In my opinion, this book SHOULD have won the Newbery. It was infinitely better than The Higher Power of Lucky. And it could possibly be the best book about foster care ever, ever written. With Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes being tied or a close second.

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. This Newbery Honor was so, so, so good. I highly recommend it to adults and kids alike.

Black Duck by Janet Taylor Lisle was an incredible read. I just loved it.

I was charmed by Julia's Kitchen by Brenda A. Ferber that won the Sydney Taylor Book Award.

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray. I was one of the few not impressed with A Great and Terrible Beauty. However, this second book wowed me. I just loved it. I read it all in one sitting, and for those not familiar with it--it is a big, thick book.

For younger readers, I think Toys Go Out is a great read or read aloud choice. The author is Emily Jenkins.

Year of the Dog by Grace Lin was a thoroughly charming book for young readers. I just loved it!!!

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

Gossamer by Lois Lowry

Sleeping Freshman Never Lie by David Lubar

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank. One more reason why Julie Brinker is my best friend. (As if introducing me to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn wasn't enough!)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Gallery of Regrettable Food by James Lileks. My review begins, "Part of me thinks it should almost be illegal to have this much fun reading a book..."

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. If I ruled the world, one of the things I'd do (but not the only thing I'd do) is make sure everyone reads this book. I just can't begin to explain how powerful and intense this book is. Read it, and it will stick with you for life. There is no forgetting this one. It *changes* you.

Favorite Books Published in 2007

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
Greetings From Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
Cupid by Julius Lester
Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller
Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
First Light by Rebecca Stead
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson
Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
Book of A Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Wildly Romantic by Catherine M. Andronik
Such A Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess
Billie Standish Was Here by Nancy Crocker
Walt Disney's Cinderella retold by Cynthia Rylant

Good Idea, Bad Idea...

First of all, let me state that the article I'm about to discuss is from the UK. It doesn't affect us here in the U.S. And let's hope it never does. I found this article through Read Roger. It's called "Publishers To Put Age Guide On Children's Book Covers."

The article begins by reporting that "publishers are prepared to put reading age guidelines on the covers of all children's books" and asserts that this will be an "important breakthrough for children's literacy." Their main argument is that research has shown that adults are clueless when it comes to buying books for kids. They just can't figure out what do do, what to buy. The conclusion to this dilemma is apparently quite obvious. If books were labeled like toys or DVDs or video games, then surely parents and loving adults would know what to buy.

What would the labels look like? "Early" for (5+) "Developing" for (7+), "Confident" (9+) and Fluent is unattached to an age. It's just floating out there waiting some span of time for confidence to transition or morph into fluidity. Apparently.

So what's the problem? Why isn't this a good idea? For one thing every child is unique, is different, is individual. Not only do children cognitively learn at their own pace, children's emotional development goes at their own pace as well. Suitability and appropriateness must always be looked at from several different angles. None of the angles include a stagnant age. There is the level, the ability of the child to process words on a page and comprehend. The "reading" aspect of it all. The magic that happens when a child learns that letters make up words that make up a sentence, that make up a story, that make up a book. I'm reminded of Francie of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn:

Oh, magic hour when a child first knows it can read printed words!

For quite a while, Francie had been spelling out letters, sounding them and then putting the sounds together to mean a word. But one day, she looked at a page and the word "mouse" had instantaneous meaning. She looked at the word, and the picture of a gray mouse scampered through her mind. She looked further and when she saw "horse," she heard him pawing the ground and saw the sun glint on his glossy coat. The word "running" hit her suddenly and she breathed hard as though running herself. The barrier between the individual sound of each letter and the whole meaning of the word was removed and the printed word meant a thing at one quick glance. She read the pages rapidly and almost became ill with excitement. She wanted to shout it out. She could read! She could read!

From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.

From A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith, p. 166-167

But that is only part of the equation. The other parts are emotional maturity and development AND content. A child can cognitively understand and read "above" his or her reading level yet not be ready to read books for older readers. Sometimes the content can be more than they can handle, more than they're ready to understand, comprehend, interpret. There is a HUGE leap between the content that is suitable for a 12 or 13 year old that would be very inappropriate for a 9 year old or 10 year old. (Alex Flinn writes a GREAT article called "Why My Books Really Are 12 and up." (I found that article through A Chair, A Fireplace, & A Tea Cozy's post "But My Child Is So Advanced.")

So whether you're "advanced" for your age or "slow" for your age...I see many potential problems. Who wants to be 9 years old and reading books that are marked Early or Developing? That wouldn't motivate a child to read. That wouldn't add the "pleasure" aspect to reading. That would add an embarrassing stigma. That would keep slow readers, reluctant readers, from wanting to pick up a book. I remember how reading groups were supposed to be "cleverly" disguised so it wasn't obvious which group was which. But it didn't really work out all that well. Labels are labels and really aren't healthy. There are aspects of "I'm smart and you're dumb." How can someone a year or several years behind his "age level" feel good about it, comfortable with it. How can he or she help but feel dumb for being so behind?

My mom tells a wonderful story. One of her older brothers was born in the early fifties. He was labeled as "special" and as being unable to read or too slow to read. His mom--my grandmother--wouldn't take that answer. Wouldn't accept that judgment. She read aloud to him. Sure enough when he was so hooked in the story that he just had to know what happened next, she stopped. And guess what, he learned to read. He picked up the book, was motivated, saw it as pleasure and not work. And sure enough finished that book. And picked up another. And another. And another. As the story goes, it wasn't that he couldn't read. It was that he didn't see the point of it. He didn't see what was oh-so-fascinating about seeing Dick and Jane and Spot. Who is really really really thrilled and captivated by any of the stories in phonics-type (or sight-word) beginning readers. (I'm not thinking Dr. Seuss or that "Beginning Readers" or "I Can Read" line. I'm thinking classroom readers.) I personally remember loving to be read aloud to as a child, but kindergarten held six months of sounding out ba, be, bi, bo, bu. But I'm digressing this isn't about which philosophy, which tools are used to help a child learn to read.

So this one is a biggie. A kid has to WANT to read. Has to connect the act of reading with something pleasurable. We're not going to become "more literate" (as individuals, a county, a state, a nation, a country, etc.) if we don't pay attention to the pleasure aspects of reading. Divorcing the act from reading from pleasure, from enjoyment, from entertainment....is just wrong, wrong, wrong. Putting labels on books could hamper a child's perception. They could possibly think a parent was trying to get them to do something that was good for them. Reading should never be equated with work, never equated to vegetables(...taste yucky but are oh-so-good for you. Try them you'll like it. I promise.)

Other issues I can see. How about the fact that not only are all children are different, but all parents, all caregivers and guardians are different as well. What one parent deems as "appropriate" for their child might not match up with what another parent deems "appropriate." There is no generic definition of "appropriate" or "suitable" that everyone can agree on. Closely related is this...who is the person...or who are the people who will determine what is and isn't appropriate for a certain age. How do they become qualified to make that judgment call for a whole country? Is that a job description that anyone would ever really want to take?

Here's a funny snippet from the article, " The idea of banding has suffered from what proved to be a false perception in the book trade that older children would be discouraged from reading a book that had a reading age on it..."

Really??? That has been proven false? What is this person going to prove false next?

The original premise of this article was that research had shown that adults--parents, etc.--were so confused, so befuddled, so clueless when it came to determining what books would be good to buy for their children. So this whole rejuvenation project has evolved. Let's change everything, transform everything, go in a whole new direction.

But here's the thing. The solution is much closer. Much. It's simple really. Obvious. A three letter word. ASK.

I'm reminded of a Dragon Tales song...If you find yourself in trouble ASK for help...

Librarians are there for a reason. They are experts at what they do. They know, they love to know, what books are available, what books are good, what books work for children. And the thing is...they love to talk about it. They love to talk books. They love to recommend. They love to connect books with readers. They not only don't mind it when children or adults ask for help, they welcome it, they want it. They like feeling useful, needed. It makes their day. Brings a smile to their faces.

There are experts out there that will help you out. And it won't cost you a penny. It doesn't take a new development concept, it doesn't take money, it doesn't take a new "vision" to solve the problem.

Librarians. Booksellers. Good people to know when you're looking to buy a gift for someone. Review journals and newspapers are another obvious place to look for recommendations. Even the Internet is full of good resources, though maybe harder to wade through. But look a simple google search and you too can find this gem: Guide Book to Gift Books 2007 edition.

There is teamwork involved. I won't lie. Adults will have to know their children and talk briefly about what their child is like--their interests, their age, their maturity--but if given just a few nuggets of information--a favorite book in the past, a favorite author, a favorite genre--they (librarians, booksellers, experts) can give you plenty of help. And it usually comes with a smile.

Which makes this just as good a time as any to remind you that the next Carnival of Children's Literature and will be hosted at Big A, Little a is coming soon and will be focused on gift-guides...what books to buy this holiday season.

Poetry Friday: In the Library

In the Library
by Michael Patrick Hearn

You're right:
I am too old for THIS.
But I like pictures in my books,
And lots of color, easy words--
You needn't give me such a look!
You're wrong:
I am too young for THAT;
The words are long, the type's too small,
I don't find any pictures there--
I'd never get through that at all!

From A Day In Verse: Breakfast, Books, & Dreams. Selected by Michael Patrick Hearn. Illustrated by Barbara Garrison.

Roundup today is at Big A, Little A

So Many Books, So Little Time

So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson is one of the books I chose to read for the Something About Me Reading Challenge. This book appeared on at least three people's lists: Sally, a.book.in.the.life, and Vasilly. The book is obviously about a woman's love affair with reading. In many ways, I can relate to this "passionate" affair. I love to read. I love to write about what I read. So you would think I would love to read about a woman writing about what she is reading. I love this book, but in name only. I love the concept of this book. But the book itself, well, not so much. It's not that it was boring. But it wasn't thrilling either. I feel like I am missing something. If this book is her description of those books that she is so "passionate" about, then I don't think it "works" as a persuasive tool. If this is just a behind-the-scenes of her project and her other writings are gathered elsewhere--perhaps published week by week at whatever paper or magazine she worked for at the time...then that would be a different story. There were parts I enjoyed, but most of the book was just okay for me. I didn't hate it. But I didn't love it either.

For "A Year of Passionate Reading" I would rather follow the lives of bloggers day by day. I guess my general reaction was that with a name like that: So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading...I expected something more. I just think the passion wasn't particularly conveyed that strongly. I mean if it had been called "Thoughts on the Books I've Read This Year" instead I would have thought it delivered just fine.

Tasting the Sky

Barakat, Ibtisam. 2007. Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood.

In this memoir, Ibtisam Barakat provides a framework for sharing her powerful and emotional story. The frame of the story is 1981. As a young woman, a teen, her bus is stopped by Israeli soldiers. The passengers are taken by the soldiers and interrogated before they are finally released to go to their destination: Ramallah.

From the very beginning, her narrative hooks the reader with its simple yet powerful style:

Birzeit is where students go to college after finishing high school in Ramallah. Some also come from Gaza, Nablus, and other cities, towns, and refugee camps. In Birzeit, many students become active in politics and have fights with the Israeli army. They chant on the streets that they want freedom from the occupation. But I did not go there to chant for freedom. I have my freedom. It is hidden in Post Office Box 34. This is what takes me from Ramallah to Birzeit.

Post Office 34 is the only place in the world that belongs to me. It belonged to my brother Basel first. He left Ramalllah and did not want to give up the box, so he passed it on to me. On the days I don’t go to Birzeit, I bury the key in the dirt under a lemon tree near our house. If I die, the key for the box will be under the ground with me.

Having this box is like having a country, the size of a tiny square, all to myself. I love to go there, dig the key out of my pocket, turn its neck around, open the door, then slowly let my hand nestle in and linger, even if the box is empty. I wish I could open my postbox every day. I feel that my hand, when deep inside it, reaches out to anyone on the other side of the world who wants to be my friend. (8-9)

My true journal is written with no pen or paper, but in my mind, with an invisible hand in the air. No one will ever find it (12)

Tears are my secret ink, in the absence of real ink. Liquid stories. (14-15)

She continues on by saying that her many pen pals world wide are always curious about her childhood. But that up until now, she’s lived by her mother’s motto that it is better to forget the past. To forget the atrocities. To forget the fear. To forget the nightmares. But our narrator is coming to a time and place in her life where she wants to remember...needs to remember.

And thus begins the second part of our story. This second part begins on the first day of the six-day war. As a young girl (maybe three year old), her world is turned completely upside down one day when their father brings home news of the war. After a few panicked hours in a water trench in their garden, the family decides to flee their home and join the throngs of rushing refugees that are trying to reach Jordan. The family rushes to their home, takes a few belongings, and the children are ordered to put on their shoes and be ready to go right then. But this poor little girl, she is unable to lace her shoes. And she could only find one.

Initially separated by her family by the rushing crowds, Ibtisam manages to find her family later that day among the crowds. Now no matter what happens, they’ll survive or die as a family all together.

The second part of the book covers the years 1967 to 1971. It covers the war, the year or so spent as a refugee in Jordan, their return to Ramallah and the rebuilding of their homes, the continuing fear of living in a “occupied” region, and the knowledge that set a young girl free: the power to read and write.

She then returns to the frame story, 1981, and shares how telling her story has been self-empowering. And how she is no longer afraid to share with others the traumas of her past.

Like a bird flinging
Its freedom songs
Across the sky

The small girl
I once was
Sings out this story.

I see her smile. (168)

Better Than Life

Pennac, Daniel. 1994. Better Than Life. Translated from the French by David Homel.

Better Than Life is the book that contains the 'Readers' Bill of Rights.' Ten little rules that could potentially change the way a parent parents or how a teacher teaches. (What does a librarian do I wonder? Would it be libraries?) I would encourage everyone to read my "behind-the-scenes" reflections of Better Than Life. Among other things I discuss the why's and how's of how I became a reader...and who I dearly thank for this obsession.




1. The Right to Not Read
2. The Right to Skip Pages
3. The Right to Not Finish
4. The Right to Reread
5. The Right To Read Anything
6. The Right to Escapism
7. The Right to Read Anywhere
8. The Right to Browse
9. The Right to Read Out Loud
10. The Right to Not Defend Your Tastes

Brilliant little rights, aren't they? The book generally tells adults (be they parents, teachers, librarians, or educators) that their insistence that a child or teen must read or must read that specific book drains any and all joy away from the process of reading. Reading is something that is done for pleasure. Make it a requirement. Make it forced. And watch the torture begin. If you want your child/teen to actually be a lifelong reader, you've got to give him/her the rights that real readers have naturally collected. Pennac's argument is essentially that if you look at adults who are readers--adults who love reading and make time for it--they tend to live by these rules. These unspoken rules.

Here are some of my favorite lines:

To reread is not necessarily to repeat. To reread is to provide fresh proof of enduring love. (66)

The cult of reading is a product of the oral tradition. You'll have to become its high priest if you want to propagate it. (88)

If you have to ask yourself where you'll find the time [to read], it means the desire isn't there. Because, if you look at it more carefully, no one has the time to read. Children don't, teenagers don't, adults don't. Life is a perpetual plot to keep us from reading. (145)

Time spent reading is always time stolen. (146)

I've never had the time to read. But no one has ever kept me from finishing a novel I loved. Reading does not belong to the societal organization of time. Like love, it is a way of being. The issue is not whether or not I have the time to read...but whether I will allow myself the joy of being a reader. (146-147)

If we want our sons, our daughters, all young people to read, we must grant them the same rights we grant ourselves. (171)

Another thing I enjoyed about this book is how he compares the act of learning to read to that of alchemy--turning lead to gold.

Lead into gold. Nothing less. He had just turned lead into gold...You never get over that transformation. You don't return from a voyage like that unchanged. No matter how inhibited, the pleasure of reading presides over every act of reading. By its nature, its alchemical sensuality, the pleasure of reading has no fear of visual media, not even the daily avalanche of pictures on the TV screen. (47-48)

D.E.A.R.

Today, April 12, 2007, is National Drop Everything and Read Day. I thought I would take this time to share some of my favorite quotes about reading, share some important links about literacy, and give a little background about myself and my lifelong love of books! Later on in the day, I'll be reviewing The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. That book is definitely one that should inspire you to 'drop everything and read.'

Oh, magic hour when a child first knows it can read printed words!

For quite a while, Francie had been spelling out letters, sounding them and then putting the sounds together to mean a word. But one day, she looked at a page and the word "mouse" had instantaneous meaning. She looked at the word, and the picture of a gray mouse scampered through her mind. She looked further and when she saw "horse," she heard him pawing the ground and saw the sun glint on his glossy coat. The word "running" hit her suddenly and she breathed hard as though running herself. The barrier between the individual sound of each letter and the whole meaning of the word was removed and the printed word meant a thing at one quick glance. She read the pages rapidly and almost became ill with excitement. She wanted to shout it out. She could read! She could read!

From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.

From A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith, p. 166-167

The library was a little old shabby place. Francie thought it was beautiful. The feeling she had about it was as good as the feeling she had about church. She pushed open the door and went in. She liked the smell of worn leather bindings, library paste and freshly inked stamping pads better than she liked the smell of burning incense at high mass.

From A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith, p. 22

Francie thought that all the books in the world were in that library and she had a plan about reading all the books in the world. She was reading a book a day in alphabetical order and not skipping the dry ones.

From A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith, p. 22

When I start on a printed page, I tend to eat it down like a peppermint stick.

From PREACHER'S BOY by Katherine Paterson, p. 84

It's always great to find out that a favorite author has a book you didn't know about. It's like thinking you finished your soda but then you grab the can and there's still some left. Only it's a thousand times better.

From SLEEPING FRESHMEN NEVER LIE by David Lubar, p. 122

Remember how I hoped Ender's Game would be good? Well, it was beyond that. I could hardly put it down. I read more than half the book the night I started it...

From SLEEPING FRESHMEN NEVER LIE by David Lubar, p. 100

I never go anywhere without a book. That way I’m never alone.

From PUCKER by Melanie Gideon p. 64

As a young child, I had always felt a bit cheated that I hadn't been born with a superhuman power, such as the ability to stop time or control the weather. I would even have settled for something as simple as ESP. But as I walked through the streets of New York that day, it began to dawn on me that I had finally discovered my special gift. Somehow, in return for my days of reading, I had acquired the ability to see things that no longer existed. By merely squinting my eyes, I could envision the city the way it had appeared 150 years before I was born.

From KIKI STRIKE: INSIDE THE SHADOW CITY by Kirsten Miller, p. 24

There was another reason why Meggie took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar voices, friends that never quarreled with her, clever, powerful friends--daring and knowledgeable, tried and tested adventurers who had traveled far and wide. Her books cheered her up when she was sad and kept her from being bored ...

From INKHEART by Cornelia Funke, p. 15-16

http://www.dropeverythingandread.com/
http://www.dropeverythingandread.com/book.html
Reading Rockets
First Book
http://www.reachoutandread.org/
Put Reading First
http://www.nifl.gov/ (National Institute for Literacy)
Suggestions for Parent Involvement
Jim Trelease On Reading
http://www.rif.org/ (Reading is Fundamental)
http://www.makereadingfirst.com/index.html
The ABC Literacy Site
Literacy Connections
Children's Literacy Initiative


I began my lifelong love affair with books in the womb. Okay, maybe my mom was thinking more about my sister who was two and a half, but even so it affected me just the same. The reading aloud never stopped. There wasn't a day that went by without the sharing of books. That special, mommy-daughter bonding time with a good book. One of my favorite *treasures* is of an audiocassette of her reading aloud some of my favorite books...books like Umbrella, Blueberries for Sal, Ferdinand, Caps for Sale, Hands, Hands, Fingers, Thumb, etc. It was an interactive experience. You can hear me joining in with my early chatter especially on the bon polos (from Umbrella). I loved the attention. I loved the books. I loved the words. That is why school--once I got past the initial shock of a strange new place--became such a great place. Here was a place where the primary goal was to teach me how to read. The glory of it all. True, "Matt the Rat" and "Pig in a Wig" weren't the most exciting books to sound out...but I knew that these small steps were leading to something great. Books like Charlotte's Web. Little House in the Big Woods. Ramona the Pest. Alice in Wonderland. Winnie the Pooh. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. So phonics wasn't so fun...but I knew that the destination was worth all the effort, all the time, all the energy. Once those words became mine, the reading never stopped. Reading is like breathing to me. (The picture is of me on my first day of kindergarten).