Saturday, September 19, 2015

“Reading offers you the opportunity “to build a self, because you create a self, you don’t inherit it.”

While recently playing with a toddler I was so taken how everything they
touch, see, smell, hear and do is building the person they are growing into becoming.
It brought to mind a comment from a literature course taught by Professor Edward Taylor in the1940’s. His introductory remark lives on—

“Reading offers you the opportunity “to build a self, because you create a self, you don’t inherit it.”

Simply put, to build a self involves acquiring beliefs &values where you experience emotions so that the self becomes larger and capable to absorb more complex ideas of life and living.  The books we read to children, the books they hear and absorb, nurture their spirit of wonder, showing them who they are at a moment in time and who they might become.

A cartoon from the New Yorker shows a mom reading to her son with the caption:
“I can’t protect you from everything, but I can read you stories that make you believe I can protect you from everything.”  But its not just the story line that delivers the message of being protected; feeling protected and loved is also communicated inside the closeness coming from the experience of being read to.





Thursday, September 10, 2015

Librarians are Fairy Godmothers in disguise

Start the year off right—Make a librarian your best friend. Back to school is a busy time— new schedules and routines, making new friends, and new challenges. I highly suggest making a Librarian, your school or community librarian, your new best friend. 

Someone who will come to know you in a very unique way—knowing what you like to read and what you don’t like to read. Librarians seem to have cornered the market in enthusiasm…. I am always grateful and so appreciative when I am introduced to a book with the enthusiasm librarians seem to have in great abundance. A Librarian on friendly terms with his or her collection, who know what books to put into your hands, is invaluable.

One of my dearest Librarian friends just introduced me to a book on the merits of making mistakes, Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty, perfect for the K-Grade 2 set.
The book is a celebration of creativity and perseverance, qualities we all need in abundance.
Its been said —when you absolutely positively have to know, ask a librarian.
Looking for that special read—ask a librarian for a little help.
As Rita Mae Brown said “ When I got my library card, that’s when my life began.”