As a nine-year-old, I anticipated three days of the year: my birthday, Christmas, and the Scholastic Book Fair. Year after year, upon seeing the flimsy, cartoon-adorned catalog land on my desk displaying the date of the upcoming event, I did a mental (and, probably physical) happy dance.
My mom’s checkbook could never keep up with my eager circling, highlighting, and squealing over every series, classic, and upcoming release. I remember 2007 especially well, that’s because of Andrew Clements.
Within the first week of third grade, Mrs. Volker set us into a healthy routine of reading as a class. Each day after lunch, we gathered on the classic elementary school rug, the kind with the alphabet and a number line running across the edges, to continue …show more content…
I wasn’t alone - Mrs. Volker was impressed to see that a majority of the class had gotten their hands on a copy of the coveted release. We made bets on who could finish the two hundred and twenty two page novel in one night. I could not complete the task, but I read it with a hunger. The children in Clements’ world were proactive protagonists: creating words, changing the social norms at school, becoming entrepreneurs. Their power fascinated me. I wanted to be a character like this in the story of my life.
There’s a reason why you gift an elementary school student with imaginative books, such as the Magic Tree House series, rather than Pride And Prejudice. Both works are acclaimed by those who they are geared to, I wouldn’t blame an adult for saying that Magic Tree House isn’t fine literature, but that is not the point. Seasoned readers feel empowered by books that make them think and test their knowledge. Children are no different, their understanding is just at a more basic level. But, children’s books aren’t “dumbed down”, they’re “powered …show more content…
They go to school, have a playdate, drink some juice boxes, then do that one sheet of math homework; two plus two equals four, two times two also equals four. Then, bedtime. It’s all fun and games until… Well, it gets too boring. Even as a child, I didn’t want to limit myself to a basic routine - I needed something to open up my mind. Andrew Clements offered realistic characters who led lives similar to mine and harbored extraordinary ideas.
Take Frindle, for example. It’s the story of Nick Allen, an inventive fifth grader, who is inspired by his latest classroom punishment - copying down the dictionary. He takes a simple word, “pen”, and turns it into a silly-sounding, contagious phrase: “frindle”. The word goes beyond his classroom, beyond his town, and everyone is amazed at this young kid’s big impact. Through the validity of his idea, he gains confidence.
By reading books with young characters who work hard to pursue their dreams, I was encouraged to do the same and not let the fact that I was “too young” get in the way. From there, I began to write stories - I loved making up plots and developing characters. Some were about princesses, others pop stars, and I recall another about a dog who ran for President. Was this award winning material? Probably not. Did I care? Nope. I was writing for me. If I enjoyed the story, that was reason enough to keep
My mom’s checkbook could never keep up with my eager circling, highlighting, and squealing over every series, classic, and upcoming release. I remember 2007 especially well, that’s because of Andrew Clements.
Within the first week of third grade, Mrs. Volker set us into a healthy routine of reading as a class. Each day after lunch, we gathered on the classic elementary school rug, the kind with the alphabet and a number line running across the edges, to continue …show more content…
I wasn’t alone - Mrs. Volker was impressed to see that a majority of the class had gotten their hands on a copy of the coveted release. We made bets on who could finish the two hundred and twenty two page novel in one night. I could not complete the task, but I read it with a hunger. The children in Clements’ world were proactive protagonists: creating words, changing the social norms at school, becoming entrepreneurs. Their power fascinated me. I wanted to be a character like this in the story of my life.
There’s a reason why you gift an elementary school student with imaginative books, such as the Magic Tree House series, rather than Pride And Prejudice. Both works are acclaimed by those who they are geared to, I wouldn’t blame an adult for saying that Magic Tree House isn’t fine literature, but that is not the point. Seasoned readers feel empowered by books that make them think and test their knowledge. Children are no different, their understanding is just at a more basic level. But, children’s books aren’t “dumbed down”, they’re “powered …show more content…
They go to school, have a playdate, drink some juice boxes, then do that one sheet of math homework; two plus two equals four, two times two also equals four. Then, bedtime. It’s all fun and games until… Well, it gets too boring. Even as a child, I didn’t want to limit myself to a basic routine - I needed something to open up my mind. Andrew Clements offered realistic characters who led lives similar to mine and harbored extraordinary ideas.
Take Frindle, for example. It’s the story of Nick Allen, an inventive fifth grader, who is inspired by his latest classroom punishment - copying down the dictionary. He takes a simple word, “pen”, and turns it into a silly-sounding, contagious phrase: “frindle”. The word goes beyond his classroom, beyond his town, and everyone is amazed at this young kid’s big impact. Through the validity of his idea, he gains confidence.
By reading books with young characters who work hard to pursue their dreams, I was encouraged to do the same and not let the fact that I was “too young” get in the way. From there, I began to write stories - I loved making up plots and developing characters. Some were about princesses, others pop stars, and I recall another about a dog who ran for President. Was this award winning material? Probably not. Did I care? Nope. I was writing for me. If I enjoyed the story, that was reason enough to keep