Ever since my mistake a week ago, I made sure not to pick Fox in Socks or any other Dr. Seuss book anymore. The trouble is, the other books were less memorable. There was one dinosaur pop up book--and I think it's Dinosaurs Galore!, but I'm not completely sure. One book 
was called Duck on a Bike. As the title suggests, it is about a duck on a bike, and other animals' reactions to it. Watch out for the cliffhanger at the end, though. (Wait--am I offering a synopsis for a book like that? Strange.) Then I finally got to read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. An awesome feat, I say, because usually the kids are scared of all the white. I'd forgotten what it was all about, but it still has the same moral oomph it must have had when I was young.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Work, games, books (no, not just for volunteering), and all that.
Every M
onday, I read books to kids. Big books, cardboard books--they're happy as long as they can eat them and there are lots of colors. The kids themselves are pretty sweet; they don't scream, though do they get bored easily. Some of them stare weirdly, some like to talk about themselves, but all of them give you their full attention when you start reading. It's very different (and a relief) from my other volunteer groups. As much as I love the kids there, they're really rambunctious and like to pull pranks. Or just don't talk to you at all.
Usually I only have time to pick three books that I'll read to about three
or four kids (I only volunteer for an hour, so I don't really have much time --
any more, and I might just lose my voice every week). Today, I made
the unfortunate mistake of picking Fox in Socks as one of the books.
Now, I love Dr. Seuss
and I love his rhyming, but he strings along tongue twister after tongue twister about the box on Knox or the stacks of clocks or the fox in socks. It was also the kids' favorite after Clifford's Don't Wake the Puppies (the other two books, Goodnight Moon and one about weather, weren't quite as popular), so I got to read the book in its entirety to two of the three kids.
That might not seem a lot to you, but it dried up my mouth much too quickly, and the kids were, shall we say, very entertained at my constant sputtering and general inability to say the right sentences. And I didn't think it, but reading aloud a kid's book is much harder than reading it in the head. But I got the hang of it (I'd be surprised if I'm not able to beat box the book now), and it was all in all a very fun experience.
was called Duck on a Bike. As the title suggests, it is about a duck on a bike, and other animals' reactions to it. Watch out for the cliffhanger at the end, though. (Wait--am I offering a synopsis for a book like that? Strange.) Then I finally got to read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. An awesome feat, I say, because usually the kids are scared of all the white. I'd forgotten what it was all about, but it still has the same moral oomph it must have had when I was young.
