Comments on: Rose’s Reading Story Could Help You

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 28 May 2010 02:32:12 +0000

I loved reading as a child. Of course, I came from a long line of readers. At 6:00 on a Sunday morning, you would find me at the kitchen table sharing the Miami Herald with my grandfather between bites of Raisin Bran. Glorious! A couple times each year, dad and I would head over to the the Friends of the Library sale, where we would stumble out hours later with bags of books. I was one lucky kid. I naturally assumed my kids would love reading too. And it worked out well with Child #1. She and I would spend hours on the couch with a book between us. One day, when she was four years old and we were reading Peter Rabbit for the millionth time, she started to cry. I asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I want to read it by myself”. It warmed a mother’s heart. Then along came Sam. Sam wasn’t interested. Sam had better things to do. I didn’t worry too much, he was a boy after all. But when we got to the end of first grade and he still wasn’t reading, I began to panic. To make a long story short, he eventually figured it out. Later than most kids, but he got there. The cool part is that Sam is now 23 years old and of my three children, he is the one who loves reading the most. When I send him a book or e-mail an article, he inhales it, staying up all night to finish, even though he’s working a job with horrendous hours. I guess the moral of the story is that the when and why and how of becoming readers is something that is individual. Kids get it when they are ready. Our job is to provide the opportunities for them to discover the wonder of reading. Even if it means sitting at the kitchen table at 6 am.

By: Michelle Breum

Michelle Breum — Wed, 26 May 2010 15:21:36 +0000

If you have a child who likes Comic Books, you may want to check out Amulet or Calvin and Hobbes. They have been favorites in our house.

By: Gail Tanner

Gail Tanner — Sun, 09 May 2010 14:04:30 +0000

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:22:23 +0000

I have a young neice that I know would love a copy of Violet Wings. She likes to make up stories about fantasy characters. Once, when she and I were playing outdoors amongst some rocks, she imagined that there were “little people”, as she called them, living in the rocks. She had character names for them, descriptions of what they looked like and all the activities they were doing while they lived in the rocks. It was very fascinating listening to her young imagination go just wherever it wanted to, and somehow even make most it connect. I’m absolutely certain she would LOVE to have Violet Wings to energize her very vivid imagination!

By: Carol B

Carol B — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:01:39 +0000

I would love a copy of Violet Wings!

I’ve been a big reader since I started school at the age of 6. I can’t remember doing much reading before that point…but my teachers were inspiring and very helpful as I learned to read school related subjects. Then I discovered the Book Mobile! I lived out in the country as a child and every 2 weeks, the bookmobile would arrive. It was really a small bus with shelves inside full of books. I would spend as long as I could finding a big pile of books, checking out as many as I was allowed. Books opened the door to all kinds of exciting worlds which continues to this day (I’m a young 50ish person now). And those open doors are the reason I especially like fantasy and science fiction…other worlds and so many possiblilites. We also didn’t have TV, so reading was a great way to explore using my imagination. It is hard for me to imagine that kids these days are more challenged regarding reading…but then they have so many more distractions. So, in whatever way works for them, they can catch the “Magic of Reading Bug” I’m delighted.

By: Victoria Hanley

Victoria Hanley — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:15:46 +0000

Ooh, how interesting and delightful to read these stories! LOVE it!

Victoria

By: Shannon C

Shannon C — Wed, 05 May 2010 22:26:08 +0000

I love this story about Rose. As an avid reader and 4th grade teacher I spent a lot of classroom time trying to hook my students on reading and the great joys of losing yourself in a story. For many of my students the door was opened into that world by “Captain Underpants” and similar type books that weren’t my first choice for reading. But what I found was that if I let go and allowed them to start there they learned to enjoy reading. Then they naturally progressed to other titles as they experienced that reading could actually be fun!

I’d like to win Seize The Story – I love finding resources that encourage writing!

By: Rebecca Rowley

Rebecca Rowley — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:47:05 +0000

As a kid, I didn’t start out liking to read. Perhaps it was the books I was given–lots of fantastical tales where the prince comes to the rescue, when all I wanted was a story about a princess who slayed her own dragon. One day, someone loaned me a new book to try–a modern tale of a girl who finds the courage to rescue herself and her friends from evil forces. The main character was a quiet girl with hidden talents–like me. From that moment on, I couldn’t get enough of the written word. I wish Victoria Hanley’s novel, “Violet Wings,” had been around when I was a kid; it was exactly what I was looking for. Zaria knows she has to stand up to the forces working against her, and she’s willing to go into the fray. Thank you, Victoria, for showing young fairies, and older ones like me, what it means to be brave.