January 23rd is National Reading Day



The Twenty-One Balloons, by William Pene du Bois, is a thrilling adventure story

Each year, I spend two class periods per week teaching in one the grade school classes.  In the past, I've taught fifth grade handwork, and sixth grade woodwork.  This year, I am with Grade Two twice a week for 'Song and Story'.  We do a little singing or flute playing together, and I spend the rest of the time reading while students draw.  Sometimes Mr. Tiny, my dwarf hamster officemate, comes to visit and hear the story, too. 

We began the year with Comet in Moominland, by Swedish-Finn Tove Jansson.  If you're unfamiliar with the Moomin series, Comet in Moominland is an exciting place to start.  Moominpapa at Sea is another good choice.  At the beginning of January, we moved on to The Wheel on the School, by Dutch author Meindert DeJong.  The second graders got quite a shock when they learned that the children in DeJong's book attended school on Saturday!  They are learning a little bit about life in the Netherlands, and are getting some new vocabulary words ('dike' and 'polder').  They will get a better idea of what 'ditch jumping' is this week; it is one of the favorite pastimes of the children in the story.

DeJong and Jansson are two of my favorite children's authors.  In my own family, we read to our son nightly from a very early age.  As he grew, he moved from our laps to the seat next to us, and finally, as a sixth grader, he took over the nighttime reading himself.  I hope you are able to celebrate National Reading Day with a child in your life by enjoying a story or poem together.