Not long ago I decided to put on my sidebar a book recommendation from both Keira and Caley. Keira was raving about a book that she had just finished so I thought I'd include some of their favourites along with mine. I asked Cal for the name of a book that he had read recently and liked, and he said Samurai Kids, White Crane.
Then out of the blue we received an email from the author, Sandy Fussell. I have to say we were very excited by this! For the kids, who read and read and read, it was wonderful to have an author directly contact us like this.
But that wasn't all. Sandy very generously offered to send Cal a copy of her latest book, Polar Boy. As she put it - "its about an Inuit brother and sister - lots of whales, polar bears and Vikings". Which of course sounds just right for Cal!
The package arrived in the mail today, along with a special note from Sandy and some posters from Samurai Kids for Cal's bedroom.
Cal is a great reader, but I have had to work quite hard to get him interested in fiction. He loves his facts, on nature, history or science. He's always loved listening to the stories that I've read to them but hadn't been drawn to them for himself. So I looked for books that I thought he'd like if he gave them a chance and got far enough into them. We've built up a little library for him with books of his own in his bedroom (as opposed to reading 'Keira's' books) and over time I'm noticing that he's reading more fiction that non-fiction these days.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything wrong with reading non-fiction, and I'm sure Cal's knowledge of reptiles, the Elizabethans and Tudors, and Elvis Presley would rival most 8 year olds! It's just that I know how much pleasure reading fiction can bring and I really feel that the earlier that you 'get' it the better.
Of course, now the kids are expecting great things from my blog, and Keira keeps asking me if I've heard from the author of her book . . .
(a very big thank you Sandy!)
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3 comments:
So much in one post, Sharyn! The joys and rewards of encouraging childhood reading, a generous gift to a child, and (well in the margin, anyway)a great simple recipe. Your lemon curd is very similar to mine, but no, it doesn't keep in the fridge for 2 weeks - it lasts about 10 minutes!
And I hope you're enjoying the Time Traveller's Wife as much as I did; such an absorbing story, I didn't want it to end.
Isn't that fabulous! I know how children (and adults) are really affected when authors contact them. Blossom wrote to Marianne Musgrove a year ago and was thrilled that she not only wrote back (handwritten note) but told her about the next book she was writing in some detail.
That is a wonderful story,and I will keep a look out for those books. I hope more than anything that my kids will be able to lose themselves in a good book.
I once sent an email to the author / cartoonist Judy Horacek and was thrilled to receive a response. I think we forget that authors are people too and that they need to hear praise as much as the next person.
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