Boys talk books
On the way to dropping off my 15 year old son and two of his friends at NUTC, National Ultimate Training Camp, we stopped for ice cream and their conversation turned to summer reading. The conversation went like this:
Boy 1: I finished reading all three books of The Golden Compass series this morning.
Boy 2: You actually read in the summer? I only read when I have to for school.
Boy 1: But in the summer, you can read whatever you want. You should try it, there’s a lot of good books out there.
Boy 3: Yeah, I only read the first one, The Golden Compass. It was good. I haven’t really read that much this summer. Michael Chabon. I read slow.
Boy 1: I like waking up early and reading.
Boy 3: I’m too tired to read in the morning. I mean I read sports article’s on ESPN, but not books.
Boy 1: Sometimes I wake up and read until lunch, stop to get something to eat and go back to reading for the rest of the day. I love that.
Boy 3: Yeah, I did that with The Wanderer and Summerland.
Boy 2: I’d much rather watch movies.
Boy 1: But reading is like watching a movie only better because it lasts much longer and has a lot more detail. It’s like a really great movie in your mind.
Boy 3: It’s true. Sometimes it’s like you forget you’re even reading because the movie totally absorbs you.
Boy 1: Yeah, and then sometimes like you realize you’re totally absorbed by this movie in your mind and as soon as you realize it, it goes away and then alls you have is words.
Boy 2: See, that’s my problem. When I read, I only get words. I can’t make the pictures happen in my mind.
Boy 1: Maybe you’re just not reading the right books.
Boy 2: You know what books I loved reading. In third grade, I read like every Goose Bumps. Those were cool.
Boy 1: Well, then how ’bout that guy. You know, what’s his name?
Boy 3: Stephen King.
Boy 1: Yeah, he wrote all those like Pet Semetary, right?
Boy 3: Yeah.
Boy 2: I like reading the newspaper. The newspaper is the best. But books, not for me.
Not a bad summertime conversation. They all brought books with them to camp. Tiina Booth, the director of NUTC is a high school English teacher after all–and it was on the list of things to bring. Doubt they’ll have much of a chance to read; they work so hard, they’re usually asleep before they can get horizontal.
books | Comments (2)Lookybook
Check out the amazing new website Lookybook which allows you to access an entire picture book online. An article over at Publishers Weekly discusses this new site. Their archive is somewhat limited at the moment, but it’s new and will grow! I think this will be a boon to picture book sales (good for authors and illustrators), but I’m also a bit concerned that it will take even more business away from local book stores (booh!), since I think that this is one reason folks still go into book stores–to see hardcover copies of picture books before deciding to purchase. However, it does look like the folks over at Lookybook are trying to also partner up with Booksense to serve the online independent book stores. Smart! But, consider heading over to your local bookstore online (Find them by visiting Booksense and typing in your zipcode; it’s as simple as using Amazon.) once you find a book on Lookybook you wish to purchase. Thanks to folks over at the New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (NESCBWI) listserve that I belong to for bringing this to our attention. NESCBWI is a local site of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I can see how this site will become a huge resource to teachers as they are always looking for new and old picture books to use in their classroom instruction.
Just One More Book
Ok, so here’s my current favorite website about books! Andrea and Mark over at Just One More Book post a thrice-weekly podcast celebrating children’s books and literacy out of their favorite coffee shop someplace in Canada. Great interviews (Esme Raji Codell, Mo Willems & Jack Pretlusky to name a few), reviews and good old book talk! Great concept, and I love the web design. Kudos to Snowyday design–gorgeous! You can even submit your own podcast review for their listener imput show. I may just have to try it!
If I was really techy, I’d imbed their promo podcast right here and let you listen!
Online Book Club
After reading about Cindy’s creation of a Blog for her in-class book clubs that are the focus of her research (See her great book, The Book Club Companion: Fostering Strategic Readers in the Secondary Classroom
I’m thinking about creating a blog to continue a book club I started for my son and some classmates during middle school. They’ve moved on to high school and between rigorous academic and extra-curricular schedules, we’re having a difficult time meeting. Plus, it’s time to think about starting my daughter’s book club now that she’s in middle school. I’ll be inviting some of the high schoolers to join me as mentors for this middle school group.
Our use of a blog would be different. The students in the classes that Cindy is working with will use the blog to extend their conversations beyond their in-class book club meetings. We would use the blog to actually hold the book club. It won’t be your traditional book club either. There may be times when we read the same book and post and comment–but I also can imagine posting and commenting on any books we’re reading for school or pleasure and see what happens with these conversations. A blog might not be the best tech format for this, but quite honestly, it’s the format I want them to experience. I really want them to experience the power of learning collaboratively from each other and the power of using writing to reflect on learning. I’ll keep you posted when I get things started.
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