One of the last times I was home, I rescued some of my old books. Among them was this gem that we've been reading a lot. Owen loves it, especially the silly stories. His current favorites are Big Bird's Rhinoceros Rhymes and Pete the Pirate (who's not nasty, but bogus like our good friend Pete always says). It's amazing how progressive it is, with "townspeople" and a woman mayor. How '70s! Then in the New York Times today is a big article about how the Sesame Street of our day isn't appropriate for today's toddlers. Sure, there's some sarcasm in the article, but there's some seriousness too. Some of it is good, and some of it is people reading too much into things. Heaven forbid anyone smokes a pipe anymore.
It amazes me how much of my job--sanitizing books to a certain degree for children's textbooks--I've absorbed. Those scissors are too pointy! Where's the helmet for that kid riding a bike? Look at the udders on that cow! On the other hand, I read and recommend so many fantasy-based and funky picture books that I know we could never, ever use in the reading program.
So what can we do to make reading fun? Another oh-so-cheery article from the Boston Globe tells us that kids are reading significantly less for fun than ever before. The report points the finger at the media, multitasking, and a disconnect in education between the ages of 9 and 17. The most interesting part from the article for me is was: "The poorest Americans who read did twice as much volunteering and charity work as the richest who did not read," (NEA Chairman Dana) Gioia said. "The habit of regular reading awakens something inside a person that makes him or her take their own life more seriously and at the same time develops the sense that other people's lives are real."
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