A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

There are some things I just cannot part with…such as my favorite books I loved to read to my own children and the children in my classroom. Like anything, the teacher adds the magic to a book. If you love a book, then I can guarantee you that your enthusiasm will make your listeners love it as well.

Kalina is now in middle school, but when she visited the summer before kindergarten I got out my “antique” collection to share with her. I just couldn’t let her grow up and not know about Ping or Sylvester or Sal. The world has changed, but Kalina and I delighted/devoured/enjoyed/savored/appreciated the books as if it time had stopped. Reading these books was like giving her a little bit of my life.

The interesting thing is that as I was reading the books I looked at them through my “standard” lenses. I didn’t realize when I read Morris the Moose books that I was introducing double meanings of words. Chicken Soup with Rice was perfect for phonological awareness and Ping showed what life is like on the Yangtze River. We counted the dogs in Madeline, Sylvester was exploding with vocabulary, and we recalled the sequence of events in The Mitten. It is true that you can still teach children everything with a good book. But, you don't have to TEACH children with the books – they will just learn in a natural and meaningful way.


















Good books are like good friends that you want to visit again and again!