student: Who are them guys?
me: These guys. Who are these guys.
student: (sarcastically) Okok, who are these guys?
me: They're gangsters.
student: Gangsters? But where is their bling? Don't look gangster to me.
me: They're gangsters from a long time ago.
student: OGs?
me: Pardon?
student: Original Gangsters Ma, don't you know anything?
Apparently I don't know anything. At least I have 26 teachers right? Now, what I do know is that this was a 5th grade book and last year she was barely at a 1st grade reading level so I was pretty enthused that she was understanding what she was reading. So I, being a librarian at heart, struck up a conversation about books that she's read. Turns out no one has encouraged her to read chapter books at all. How is that even possible? I started reading chapter books in the 1st grade (granted I was an only child/nerd). Still, a 3rd grade girl being given books meant for 1st or 2nd graders when she's capable of reading at a 5th grade level just irks me. So that night I went to Borders and used my sweet educator discount to buy Little House in the Big Woods (my first chapter book), Matilda, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Ramona Quimby- Age 8, The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, and The Twits. The next day I started a sign out sheet and there you go- a library. I have never seen such a stampede for anything. You would have thought Miley Cyrus was in those books.
The best part of the whole thing is that even though my kids are terrible at following any rules (ever) they're fantastic at returning books. They have the same fanatical respect for books as I did as a kid. My parents and grandparents started sharing their love for books with me before I can remember. My first steps were taken because I was trying to reach a book that my mom held just out of my grasp. I used to drive my poor dad insane because I wouldn't settle for just one reading of a book. I wanted it read a second, third, or even fourth time. Some of my most prized possessions were the books given to me. I would set all of my dolls up and play school. Each doll would be assigned different readings from my sign language book, my book about weather, my native american short stories book, and my ballet books . Yes, I was that nerdy.
Above all the most important person in my literary life was my Grandpa Keith. He started getting me into books by telling me the stories and getting me hooked. When Grandpa told a story it was impossible to give it up. Every summer that I visited he would take me to the used bookstore and I would leave with armfuls to books to last me until I came back. As I got into middle and high school I started suggesting books for him but he knew his books way better than I did. Not only did he read upwards of 4 books a week but he wrote too. He was always writing whether it was letters to the editor, a few papers about our family history, or even a book that about the history of his high school that was put in the public library. He was badass. When I would visit him he would always point out the library every time we drove by it. It was clearly the most important thing in town to him.
When Grandpa passed away this summer I was lucky enough to get to Washington the night before he went. On his nightstand next to his hospital bed he had a stack of books to return to me and a stack of books for me to start on. Even though he was sick and had other things to worry about he insisted on making sure I understood the symbolism in the last book I lent him and telling me just enough about Isabelle Allende that I would have to read her books. The man was a teacher through and through.
So when I got the chance to introduce chapter books to my kids I jumped at it. When you've been reading pictures books your whole life chapter books are really a whole new ball game. They'll teach patience and persistence- both things my kids could use a lot more of.
The thing that showed me this was working was yesterday when I had a girl come to me and ask if I have read The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I figured she was looking for a recommendation and I told her I haven't read it yet. Her response was "oh good! I have a copy here if you want to borrow it. It doesn't seem fair that I read all of your books but you don't read mine." My heart just about melted. I haven't had a book recommendation since Grandpa passed away and I've been a little bit lost as to how to get myself back into reading. This is the perfect way.
Totally kidding about Miley being in the books by the way. Even my kids think Miley is skanky.
