{"id":203,"date":"2011-12-09T23:20:36","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T23:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/?p=203"},"modified":"2011-12-09T23:22:20","modified_gmt":"2011-12-09T23:22:20","slug":"i-can-read-with-my-eyes-shut-reverb-broads-2011-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/?p=203","title":{"rendered":"I Can Read With My Eyes Shut: Reverb Broads 2011 #9"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

On my pilgrimage to the Seuss Landing at Universal Islands of Adventure<\/p><\/div>\n

Reverb Broads 2011, December 9:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0What was your favorite children’s book? (courtesy of Niki at http:\/\/nikirudolph.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

Pick a single favorite children’s book? What, are you people trying to kill<\/em> me? No, I see it all now: you want me to do your holiday shopping for you…<\/p>\n

I’m bad at the favorites game, no matter the medium. That whole “Ten CDs\/Books\/Movies\/Games\/Wombats On A Desert Island” meme is completely beyond me; in fact, the only thing I can do every time I say that, as soon as I post the list, I’m going to think of at least three I would have to change. So this is going to be more of a whirlwind tour than a deep reminiscence.<\/p>\n

I literally can’t remember a time when I couldn’t read; I had maybe a hundred sight words by the time I was two. When they tested me for kindergarten, I was at a fourth-grade level. Pretty much anything I ever wanted to read, I just picked up and gobbled down. This doesn’t mean I didn’t love children’s literature. I did — I do.<\/p>\n

So I’ll start in the place everyone who knows me would expect me to start: Doctor Seuss.<\/p>\n

Yes, I spelled that correctly; please absorb that bit of knowledge and carry it forth into the world. And I know, I know you love him too. Who doesn’t? His stuff never gets old. But much like the Muppets<\/a>, I just never let Dr. Seuss go as I aged. I memorized and did a dramatic recitation of Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose<\/em> for Forensics in high school; I went to State on that story. And when I got to college, the first club I joined was the KU Dr. Seuss Club. I was its president my sophomore and junior years. We used to go into Lawrence’s elementary schools and read to kids, to validate our weekly meetings and impressive membership. I was even featured in a story about the club<\/a> that hit the Knight-Ridder newswire (FYI: my maiden name was Perinchief).<\/p>\n

But when I was the age when most kids are enamored of Dr. Seuss and other picture books, I was all about the nonfiction, too. I had several phonebook-sized collections of weird facts that I recited to anyone and everyone (this particular sin is being revisited upon me even as we speak). And there was a biography of Dolley Madison<\/a> that I checked out almost every time I was at the library, and must have read a hundred times. My grandparents took me to the Wisconsin State Capitol when I was four, and I argued with the tour guide that Madison was obviously named for Dolley, because she saved the White House and what had her runty little lump of a husband ever done. This was not the first, nor the last, time in my life I’ve been stared at like a freakshow.<\/p>\n

As I got older, my tastes evolved pretty quickly — I was a rabid Sherlock Holmes fan by the time I was in sixth grade — but some children’s lit still stands out in my memory. I adored The Westing Game<\/em>, and I’m so happy to still see it on regular middle school reading lists. And The Phantom Tollbooth<\/em> is as fresh today as it was 25 years ago; I’ve been loving all the anniversary celebrations<\/a> this year. I still read A Little Princess<\/a><\/em> from time to time, just to relive the delight and wonder of that story, and the movie is a little-known gem. Sure, I read my share of Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Babysitters Club<\/em>, and Sweet Valley High<\/em>, too. I was truly ravenous, and I could chew through one of those “age-appropriate” books in under two hours. But my parents never restricted me to the short-shelved section of the library, for which I remain grateful.<\/p>\n

And now I have new favorites, but they’re my favorites from reading to my own kids. Books like Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs<\/em> and Barnyard Dance<\/em> by Sandra Boynton, the Charlie and Lola<\/em> books by Lauren Child, and the Skippyjon Jones<\/em> series by Judy Schachner are a riot and a joy to read aloud. In fact, there’s a thing called the E. B. White Read-Aloud Awards<\/a> that’s been going for just a few years now that makes a great place to start finding those books you’ll never get tired of reciting at bedtime. And achingly sweet books like I Love You, Little One<\/em> by Nancy Tafuri, God Bless the Gargoyles<\/em> by Dav Pilkey (this one is NOTHING like Captain Underpants<\/em>, trust me), and Polar Bear Night<\/em> by Lauren Thompson still get me choked up, especially when my sweet boys fall asleep while I’m still reading quietly at their bedsides.<\/p>\n

I read in my kids’ classrooms every few weeks, so I’m having to expand my repertoire to find short, funny stories that fourth-graders like. The Wayside School<\/em> stories by Louis Sachar have been very well-received, but I’m always looking for new suggestions.<\/p>\n

I figure, by the time I’m done reading aloud to my kids, their kids should be just old enough for some Doctor Seuss. And they’ll know right where to find Grandma’s copies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reverb Broads 2011, December 9:\u00a0What was your favorite children’s book? (courtesy of Niki at http:\/\/nikirudolph.com) Pick a single favorite children’s book? What, are you people trying to kill me? No, I see it all now: you want me to do your holiday shopping for you… I’m bad at the favorites game, no matter the medium. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,78],"tags":[56,17,122,84,57,9,102],"class_list":["post-203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ancient-history","category-literature","tag-books","tag-children","tag-dr-seuss","tag-education","tag-literacy","tag-reading","tag-reverb-broads-2011"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions\/206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}