Reading Out Loud

Brandt and I are on a reading kick.  My January book group book was The Hobbit, and I thought Brandt would probably enjoy it.  There are dwarves and goblins, a shape-shifter and a dragon, fairies and battles, ogres and an enormous treasure.  Plus there was a magic ring, riddles, huge eagles and wolves, and true adventure.  What boy wouldn't love a book like that?  Just after Christmas we began, and we finished the day before my book group the third week in January.  It was wonderful!  Brandt was so intrigued by the story, gave it rapt attention, and has such a vivid imagination there were moments when he got almost too nervous to have me read.  Here is an example.

Early in the story, not long after Bilbo and the dwarves have begun their journey, they come upon three ogres.  Ogres are huge, especially compared to Bilbo.  They are around a fire talking, and Bilbo, who has been sent to spy on them and find out what's what, decides he is going to steal a purse out of the pocket of one of the dwarves.  Unfortunately, the purse is enchanted, and as soon as Bilbo picks it out of the ogre's pocket, the purse says, "Oy! Who are you?"  Bilbo is immediately grabbed and swept up by an ogre.  Brandt and I are in his bed and I am reading this section.  I read about Bilbo being picked up, and Brandt interrupts me and says, "I want to read Happy Pig Day."

"What?" I said.  I was pretty into the story myself.

"I want to read Happy  Pig Day," Brandt said again.

"Is this making you pretty nervous?" I asked.

"Yes!" Brandt said instantly.

We had a pause in the action so I could explain that none of what we were reading was real, that there are no ogres or Hobbits or dragons, that we were only at the beginning of the story (I think we were in chapter three) and that Bilbo was going on to have other adventures.  He was going to escape from the ogres.  Brandt said I could go on, so I did.  But I will tell you that wasn't the last time we had to stop and talk about fiction not being real.

Our reading of The Hobbit was so wonderful, that I wanted to start another book right away.  Ms. Medaris, Brandt's teacher, had been reading My Father's Dragon out loud to the class, and Brandt had really been loving it.  I discovered it is the first of three and can be ordered as one book with all three stories.  It arrived just in time for us to read those three (My Father's Dragon, Elmer and the Dragon, and The Dragons of Blueland).  When those were finished I pulled out a short Roald Dahl book, which we followed up with a longer Roald Dahl, then a Flat Stanley book, and now The Tale of Despereaux.  We should finish that one this week.  I am not sure there is anything I love doing more with the children than reading to them and with them.  I love to have Brandt read to me, and I love that Blythe is wanting to read too.  I have begun working with her a bit more so she can read as well.  I am glad they seem to like it as much as I do.