I travel throughout the hallways between classrooms, to work with my
customers. Coming into a room quietly
is important. Nine times out of ten the professional is in the midst of his or her lesson.
Interrupting a flow of that give-and-take
is distracting; I attempt to be as
inconspicuous as possible.
Forgive me for "outing" a third grader, really.
In his lap was that book.
It was a math lesson and
he was attending to the discussion.
He truly was listening and following along
that first day. The problem had something
to do with reading a chart and recording
the appropriate information.
His eyes would stray away from the board, down to the book, and then up again.
A tussle to respond to the questions
being posed by an adult and continue
reading was quite real!
I loved witnessing this.
The next day it happened again.
The math lesson was in full swing and while
the group worked through a different set of
questions; the boy had the same book
resting out of sight, in his lap.
Oh, he didn't skip a beat.
He participated fully in the conversation
swirling around the room, answering
correctly when called upon by the teacher.
Trust me, he wasn't being disrespectful.
The book just seemed to have
taken his his fancy and
his concentration.
After the third day of witnessing such
infatuation with a tale during a math
lesson, I wanted to discover what
title he was unable to put down.
It does the heart good to see
youngsters so involved with
reading, at least it does so
with my heart.
It turns out that getting the idea
for your "next great read" can
come from a nine year old.
Our conversation was brief; he shyly
pulled the copy from his desk and
explained that he's just finished it.
I eyed the paperback, one from the
collection his teacher had in her classroom
and wondered why it was so hard to put down.
So he went onto to explain,
to actually recommend to me that is
was a book worth my while to check out
from the library. What a smart kid!
Later in the evening, I was recounting
this conversation with my husband. He
smiled and quietly ordered a copy of
it for me to read. What a smart man!
Somehow, I missed this wonderful story
while growing up. What a beautiful tale it
is and yes, I wept like a baby at the end.
The boy told me I'd probably cry over
the book. I did but it was worth every tear.
The moral of this story?
Get book recommendations from anyone
willing to give you one. Then, freely
offer your own suggestions to others.
Influencing children to read, think,
and dream is so important.
I can't wait to tell him about
finishing the book, when we see
one another after spring break is over.
