Who said that multi-tasking is a myth? 🙂 (Photobomb cred to Mike, who is probably talking with the other Element staff about the high school Friday night about to start.)Â
Last week I said that books make babysitting better, and that was in the context of reading to children. I’m pretty sure Christine isn’t reading aloud to this little baby, but it still holds true. Happy baby gets pushed around in the stroller, and happy babysitter gets to read! It’s a win, win.
It’s a fine line between Ordinary and Extraordinary. Here at Gracepoint Berkeley church, I’m happy to be part of increasing the momentum of a culture shift, where reading is not only cool, it’s a given. Today’s picture is so mundane to me, but when I take a step back, I recognize the (Extra)ordinary in it. These middle school guys could be lost in the myriad Internet wormholes out there, playing video games, or just otherwise metaphorically or literally rolling around doing nothing. Instead they’re voluntarily coming to a library for independent reading. They don’t get community service points or extra credit for this. We don’t do any special programs. I have classical music playing, and pretty much leave them alone. We just read. (I actually get the most reading done during my times with these guys, so I personally look forward to it. Which some might find extraordinary in and of itself!)
Middle school guys totally in the zone — the auto reading zone — reading books that they *chose* to come to Bibliopolis to read. For an hour! (And some come early, just because.)
What’s your verdict: Ordinary or Extraordinary?Â
I couldn’t resist snapping this photo of my friend Sara from Gracepoint Berkeley church, whose PhD. is in English Literature (so she’s the doctor — see what I did there?), sitting in the Bibliopolis rocking chair, *fully* engrossed in and almost finished* with Gregor the Overlander (Book 1) whilst waiting for her son to finish his library time. You might have thought she only read from the English literary canon, but even people who study and analyze literature for a living can testify that a good story is what it’s all about! This picture is all the endorsement I need to go along with my claim of it being the best underrated fantasy series for middle grades.
What Professor Hong reads when she’s not grading her college students’ essays!
When she finally looked up from the book, she said, in that dignified cadence she has, “This book is so much fun!” And she had her son check out the book for her, and when she said excitedly, “You can read it too, and we can talk about it together!” his eyes got really big, really slowly, and he stood there, unblinking, speechless, with that slightly puzzled and uncomfortable frozen smile. If you know him, you can totally picture this, right?
Don’t worry, Jonathan, there are tons of themes, symbols and motifs** to talk about with your mom. I’m sure you’ll get an A+ on your discussion! 🙂
*Sara, if you’re reading this, by now you’ll have finished the book and realized that your prediction was in error, and there was a twist! I’ll put book 2 on reserve for you. 🙂
**Sorry, Jonathan, there aren’t any sparknotes on Gregor the Overlander.
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