“Sounds okay,” I said and I kind of closed my eyes.”
― William Goldman, The Princess Bride
There are very few books and movies that I love equally. I often read a book with the movie I would like to see in my mind, except I’m not a filmmaker nor do I imagine any filmmakers are interested in the very specific details I hoped to see. I usually wish that instead of being turned into a 2-hour movie, that they could simply make the 12 hour extremely detailed version I pictured in my mind while reading. I would guess that most filmmakers don’t think viewers would sit there for 12 hours watching that movie…I totally would.
There is however one exception, the book and movie I love…The Princess Bride. I love this book. I love this movie. It would be inconceivable to love one and not the other. The story has something for everyone…romance, fencing, a giant (played by Andre the Giant in the movie), rodents of unusual size, and so much more….in both the book AND the movie. Obviously, they aren’t exactly the same, but they are similar enough and yet distinct enough that they are both amazing.
In 2017, my mom gave me the coolest gift ever…a signed copy of The Princess Bride. She knew it was my favorite and when she met William Goldman, she knew a signed book would be the most amazing gift ever (and it definitely was).
Last night (in 2018), William Goldman passed away at the age of 87. Today, I will revisit some amazing characters in my beloved copy of “The Princess Bride,” and I will watch the movie again this weekend. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, please join me. This epic fairy tale should be enjoyed in both book and movie.
I often wish I could go back in time and tell myself not to worry. So many hours spent worrying about things that ended up being totally fine. Yes, some things merited that worry, but many didn’t. How does this tie into reading? I think as parents, we worry about our children reading. Are they reading enough? Are they reading the right books? Are they reading at their appropriate level? Why are they rereading the same book instead of different books? Why do they only read certain subjects?
Looking back at my childhood reading, I don’t recall ever being told to pick a different book. If a book was beyond my reading level at the time, I either put it away to read later or, if I loved the book, persevered slowly trying to understand. Sometimes I read books well below my reading level. I often reread books because I enjoyed revisiting those stories. I remember reading Stephen King as a tween and as long as it wasn’t giving me nightmares, no one stopped me. I believe that this is what made me a reader.
Reading at the appropriate reading level is important. Teachers will recommend books and obviously all school reading should follow what the teacher recommends. If a child picks up a book below their reading level for some at home recreational reading…it’s ok (as long as they are doing their appropriate school reading too). They are choosing to read in their free time. I obviously embody this when writing this column. I enjoy so many of the books I read to write about here. I also read much more complex books that would be deemed an “appropriate” reading level. Neither are better, they are all great books in their own ways, and I grow as a reader from all of them.
In school, rereading a book might not be what a teacher wants a student to do when they are working on specific reading skills. At home, if a child picks up a book they already read and wants to reread it in their free time…it’s ok. There is often a comfort that comes from rewatching shows or movies. The same can be the case for rereading favorite books. For those who are easily stressed, reading a book where they know what will happen next makes it more enjoyable. Also, when rereading a book, readers may pick up on things they previously missed. I love to reread “Harry Potter” in the fall because I enjoy the vivid holidays in the books. I have reread “Charlotte’s Web” so many times and I continue to find more things that I love about that book. My favorite book to reread “A Time to Keep: the Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays.” Broken down into months, I might reread the whole book or simply skip to the current month and enjoy those few pages.
If we feel like we aren’t good at something, someone pointing out what we are doing wrong, might make us shut down or give up. Obviously, I mean this within reason. If a child is attempting a dangerous sport and something is pointed out for safety reasons, that wouldn’t apply here. I also don’t mean this in terms of homework…the student who does a math problem wrong needs to be shown what is wrong and how to correct it. I’m thinking of the child who picks up a picture book to read in their free time because they like seeing the story while reading the words. While it might not be the book they are supposed to read for homework (and as long as they are reading that too), it’s ok.
If you are still concerned because your child does all of these things, there are some great books you can recommend that may help and won’t discourage your reader. If your child loves to reread a particular book, look for other similar books. If your child loves picture books and you want them reading more advanced stories, there are some incredible advanced picture books that cover more complicated topics, have more words per page, etc. Maybe introduce them to graphic novels that combine word and pictures in a different way.
How do you find these books you can recommend to your reader? Stop by your local library or independent bookstore. The librarians and booksellers have read so much and always have incredible suggestions. Many online book retailers also have sections of suggested books based on a specific title. Include your child in finding these books. A great way would be “I know you love this book, let’s find more like it.” Feeling validated about the books they love, will help grow their confidence as a reader.
I truly believe I read as much as I do is because I never felt bad about the books I chose. I never felt like I could only read certain books or others were for smaller children or older children. As long as the topic was appropriate, I was given the green light in the library to pick up whatever books I chose and enjoy the stories. I read books I might not have otherwise, if my reading list had been entirely curated for me.
As you all know from reading here, I love when my world and the world inside the books I’m reading overlaps. I love walking through the spaces that appear on the pages. It’s a special vortex where I can almost step into the book and the story jumps off the page and surrounds me.
I love local stories and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is one of my favorites. Of course, autumn calls for a trip down to Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow to walk through the pages and visit that tiny space where the book comes to life and I’m standing in the story looking around. While I love this trip any time of year, autumn is extra special there because the location and season match. My previous reviews of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and related stories can be found here: The Legend,The Hollow Trilogy, and The Horseman.
I saw the site of the Van Tassel house, visited the Old Dutch Church and wandered through the cemetery, of course stopping at Washington Irving’s headstone. I read each signpost that indicated the ties the legend has to that very spot. As I wandered through Tarrytown, I visited a wonderful bookshop and picked up a copy of Serena Valentino’s “Raising the Horseman.”
In “Raising the Horseman” we met the many times great granddaughter of Katrina Van Tassel, who continues her legacy by also being a Katrina (goes by Kat) whose family is preparing for the 200th anniversary of the Horseman’s legendary haunting of Sleepy Hollow. Kat doesn’t believe in ghosts and finds it frustrating that her entire town seems to be obsessed with them. She wants to explore the world and feels frustrated that her parents keep talking about her family obligation to continue the family’s legacy in Sleepy Hollow. Kat meets a new friend, Isabella Crowe, who unbeknown to Kat also has ties to the legend. Kat is given the 1st Katrina’s diary to read and as she does, the legend seems to come to life around her.
I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t want to give away any of the surprises in this book. The story involves surprises, ghosts, and even the Headless Horseman himself. I loved how a 200-year-old Legend could still be believable in a modern-day story. My only complaint is that this book wasn’t longer. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. The story moves back and forth between Katrina’s diary and Kat’s story 200 years later. While this might sound confusing, it isn’t. Katrina’s story brings a new perspective to the Legend, and we see a new side of Katrina along with Kat (who previously knew the same Legend story as the reader).
This is an incredible YA book for both YA and adult readers. I highly recommend this story. I also highly recommend visiting Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow before/after (or even during) your read to walk through the book. While there, stop by Transom Books and get a coffee at Coffee Labs (I can provide restaurant recommendations too for anyone looking to make an entire day of it).
This weekend is the New York City Marathon. Athletes from all over the world will push themselves to run that incredible distance through the streets of New York. I’m in awe of these athletes.
It’s hard for me to imagine that not too long ago, women were told they couldn’t run. There were no women runners in these long-distance races. It was believed women couldn’t or shouldn’t run. As we look forward to seeing incredible runners this weekend, this week’s amazing true story picture book, is a look at the woman who paved the way.
“Her Fearless Run” by Kim Chafee and illustrated by Ellen Rooney is the story of Kathrine Switzer and her historic Boston Marathon run. Kathrine grew up running when no other girl did. She loved the way it felt to run. When she was a student at Syracuse University, the coach saw her run and invited her to train with the team (they did not permit women to race but she could train with the team). As she trained, she increased her mileage and when running 10 miles, wanted to train to run a marathon. As much as her coach believed in her, he doubted she could do it because women don’t run marathons.
Hearing doubt pushed Kathrine to want it even more and she continued increasing her mileage and training with the plans to run the Boston Marathon. She checked the rules, and it didn’t specifically say a woman could not enter so she did. She listed her initials instead of her first name so one realized a woman was running until the race started. While some cheered her on, others (including race officials) tried to stop her. This only fueled her more. She was determined to make it to that finish line because it wasn’t just about it. She wanted to prove women could run a marathon.
While I hope no girl will ever hear that they can’t do something simply because they are a girl, I hope if any girl does hear those words, she can channel her own “Kathrine Switzer” determination and prove the world wrong.
(*note – this originally was published in October 2022 but always a good reminder to look to books for fun costume ideas).
This week, several friends sent me a photo of a little girl dressed up as a book fairy. Her wings were made from an open hard-cover book. Her skirt was made from loose book pages. The costume was brilliant, and I wish I was going to a Halloween party just to be a book fairy. The fact that multiple friends sent me the same image made me happy…they know me well!
This got me thinking about other bookish Halloween costumes. I know I originally said I would write about ways to bring books alive, and I will cover that more soon, although I think Halloween costumes are a perfect way to make a book come alive for a child (or teen, adult, pet, anyone). Dress up as your favorite character whether they are from a movie, cartoon, book, or comic book.
If a child likes a book series, what better way to get them even more excited about reading more in the series than for them to dress up as that character? We often see Harry Potter and Hermione, and I love that children love the characters so much that they choose to dress up like them. In our house, costumes have been some very popular book characters and some more obscure. Some of my favorite book character costumes from our Halloweens past include Gerald from the Mo Willems “Elephant & Piggie” books, a borrowed Sophie Foster costume from Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of the Lost Cities” series (and yes, we had a friend who happened to have that costume), Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” and a group costume consisting of Hermione, Harry’s Owl (carrying a copy of the Daily Prophet), and Doby.
Some characters are challenging because their costumes look like regular clothes, so how do you identify it as a costume? Fear not, it is still possible. For many of our book costumes, I made a trick-or-treat bag. I picked up a package of plain white cloth bags and printer transfer paper. Print a full-sheet book cover onto your transfer paper and iron it onto the bag. It’s simple (although read the instructions to see if you need to flip the image before printing so you don’t have a backward book cover). The easiest way to immediately identify that the child is dressed up as their favorite book character, and that bag will likely become a favorite little book tote bag.
I can’t wait to see all the costumes, especially the book-inspired ones this Halloween. If you dressed up as a book character, be sure to share a picture. I’d love to see it!
I have a vague but distinct memory of a children’s picture book from when I was maybe 5 years old. My dad took me to the library and we borrowed this book. I loved the story and wanted to keep the book. My dad found it on my bookshelf and not in the bag of books to be returned to the library. I vaguely remember the discussion that followed about it being a library book and that we borrowed it, thus we must return it (which we did).
I don’t remember the title, but I’m hoping with the power of the internet, someone who reads this recognizes this picture book and can share the title with me.
The story was of a humanized rabbit family. They lived in a home and acted like humans but obviously were rabbits. One of the rabbit children really wanted a dog. His parents would not let him get a dog (dogs were still animals in the book and not humanized). The rabbit child finds a dog and brings him home. He dresses the dog up in clothes and tries to pass him off as a rabbit friend to his parents. At dinner, the dog sits at the table with the family and begins to eat the food off the plate like a dog, not like a (humanized) rabbit using utensils. At that point, the rabbit parents realize the friend is a dog but allow the rabbit child to keep the dog as a pet.
Does anyone recognize this picture book based on my description? To overcomplicate it, I haven’t seen this book since I was about 5 so my recollection could be a bit off but I’m rather confident in my description of the story.
Over the summer, I took a break from reading as quickly as I do when I’m writing this column. I picked up the same book multiple times and put it down and that’s ok. It’s ok to get distracted and not read as much because life happens.
I was unpacking a Halloween bin today and found a favorite childhood book and knew I needed to share it with all of you. I pack holiday books in with holiday decorations. We wouldn’t normally read those books the rest of the year, so they don’t need to be out on shelves all the time. Some holidays we see them, smile, and continue unpacking holiday decorations. Other years, holiday unpacking stops and it’s a chance to revisit a favorite holiday story.
Today, I stopped and sat down among partially unpacked decorations and started flipping through the pages. For those of you who know me personally and my involvement with the giant pumpkin weigh off in my town, you might get a chuckle from my favorite childhood Halloween book. I loved (and still love) “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” I was always drawn to this line, “On Halloween night, the great pumpkin rises from the pumpkin patch.” I waited with Linus. I loved the idea of a magical larger than life pumpkin.
I’ve talked about before when books and reality overlap. I think I like Halloween books so much because there is so much overlap. I love to visit Sleepy Hollow and read the Legend. I live in a town that has a giant pumpkin festival. I watch the children’s faces as they see the first giant pumpkin arrive. I see their excitement and I think of Linus waiting in that pumpkin patch. He wanted to see the giant pumpkin rise from the pumpkin patch so badly.
We connect with books in so many ways. We tie memories to them. We know characters as if they were real life friends. We read their stories, and they become a part of ours. Sometimes, we even find these magical intersections where the stories we love become a part of our reality.
This past week I was talking to friends at work and the topic somehow turned to tv shows of our childhood. I love this topic as much as I love talking about my favorite childhood books. I shared that Magic Garden with Carole and Paula was my most favorite show. If you grew up in the NY area in the 70s/80s, you probably remember Magic Garden.
I loved this show. I can’t say that enough. I saw them perform live as child and many years later, when my children were small, I took them to see Carole and Paula perform live at children’s book day at Sunnyside, Washington Irving’s home.
A children’s tv show may seem like an unusual topic for a column about books but this show fits in perfectly here. On the show, Carole and Paula would open the story box (a giant trunk) filled with props for that day’s story. They would then use the props to tell their audience captivating stories. A few simple props became a magical tale with their ability to intertwine some magic….voices, accents, costumes, and the ability to keep their young audience’s attention. I loved their story time.
The oral tradition of telling stories is so important. As a young child, hearing those stories, I felt Carole and Paula’s excitement for the tale. I felt the magic of the story. I loved listening. I loved seeing their take on how the story came to life. I could never replicate it, but I can bring my own excitement to reading stories aloud to young listeners.
Many childhood books shaped me as a reader, but I would be remiss if I did not include the tv show Magic Garden in that list. Carole and Paula were a big part of my early childhood and they too shaped me as a reader. They presented stories in another way, and I learned from them that stories are so much more than simply words on a page. Those words on a page are so important but equally important are those stories we share. The ones that captivate the listener. The ones that might not be written down on any paper and might be told a little differently each time. They are passed on from storytellers to their audience.
I don’t remember the specifics of all the story box stories but I remember how it felt to listen to those stories (and I still remember the song “the stories are here, there all in here”). I remember that magical feeling hearing a story. For young readers and story listeners, the feelings of excitement, wonder, captivation that come from hearing a story aloud are the foundation of building a love of reading. Thank you, Carole and Paula, for making stories come alive for me.
“One if by land, two if by sea.” These famous words from the Longfellow poem immediately remind us of that famous ride of Paul Revere to warn that the British were coming. As a child I heard the story of that midnight ride and how important it was at a time when there weren’t phones or internet or any easy way to spread an emergency message.
Another rider also took off through the night, but her story doesn’t get told as often. On the night of April 26, 1777, young Sybil Ludington rode through the night to call the troops to fight the British at Danbury, CT (State Education Department 1935). Her historic ride covered nearly 40 miles through the Hudson Valley to tell the troops to meet her father in the morning to fight the British troops in nearby Danbury.
Growing up, I never heard of Sybil or her historic ride so I was captivated when my children came home from school years ago, sharing her story with me. This weekend marks the 247th anniversary of the Battle of Ridgefield and Sybil’s midnight ride so I thought I would share a few great books to learn more about this local heroine.
I’ve mentioned before how transformative it can be for young readers when the story overlaps into their own world. Reading local history and being able to visit the locations can make the story feel more “real.” After reading the books above, there are several great local places to visit. There are statues and history markers nearby that recount Sibyl’s ride. Readers can visit the statues outside the Danbury library and in Carmel as well as historic markers in Ludingtonville and Carmel. We visited several locations and it put into perspective just how far this young heroine rode through the night and how important and brave she was.
Back in October, I read Paula Morris’ “Ruined” and I was immediately hooked. It had all the makings of the a great “spooky season” read….ghosts, New Orleans, history, a family curse, and New Orleans cemeteries. As I told a friend about the book, I looked it up online to check the author’s name and discovered there was a second book. It continued!
I’m always excited when the story continues and quickly ordered a copy of “Unbroken.” Rebecca returns to New Orleans with a friend from home to visit family and one friend, Anton. New Orleans without a ghost and a family curse should hopefully be less stressful until a mysterious boy shows up in New York asking for help in New Orleans.
While Rebecca tries to keep the ghost hidden, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Talking to an invisible person draws attention to you. Rebecca has to share the news with her friend from home….she sees ghosts and one needs her help. Helping a ghost is never easy and other ghosts become angry and try to stop her.
Sometimes second books don’t live up to the first. It feels like a desperate attempt to continue a completed story. That was not the case here. The story continued. It flowed. It made sense. Rebecca and her dad visiting family in New Orleans was logical. The ghost that found her didn’t feel forced. The story took different turns than the first and while the characters and location were the same, it was definitely a new story that continued from the last book.
I would definitely recommend both “Ruined” and “Unbroken.” I could see the streets of New Orleans as I turned the pages and I really enjoyed both books. If you are looking for a ghost story that isn’t scary, but rather friends and enemies that span centuries, be sure to check these books out.
