Elmer Elevator and a dragon named Boris...

So the fam is off to hockey.  I felt crappy all day- think I'm getting a cold/sinus junk.  So I'm home resting and thought I'd  put a new post up about a recent chapter book I read with the kids and a book about getting your kids to love reading.  I enjoyed both... so here we go.

Wikipedia writes...

My Father's Dragon is a children's novel by Ruth Stiles Gannett about a young boy, Elmer Elevator, who runs away to Wild Island to rescue a baby Dragon. Both a Newbery Honor Book and an ALA Notable Book^[1], it is the first book of a trilogy whose other titles are Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland. All three were published in a 50-year anniversary edition as Three Tales of My Father's Dragon.

The narrative mode is unusual, in that the narrator refers to the protagonist only as "my father", giving the impression that this is a true story that happened long ago. The other two books in the trilogy are narrated in the third person.

The book was really enjoyable and not scary, too fantasy like, or out there for a mom, kindergartner and 2 1/2 year old going on 20 to understand. I really liked all three stories and the kids liked that almost every page had some black and white sketch/drawing.  I highly recommend this book and am so thankful to have the great librarian (Coralville library) who steered me towards this book. 

So besides loving going to the library by myself or with the family I also really enjoy reading reference books from the parent/teacher shelves about different books for kids to read.  One I read this past weekend was great with many specific examples about topics and genres and age appropriate book suggestions.  I came away with some new ideas for reading activities this summer for the kids and also another list of books I want to check out with the kids.  I think I already mentioned it but if not- I keep a three ring mini notepad in my library bag with all the "wish list" books for both me and the kids.  I also have written down quotes I have enjoyed from varied books I've read and also have started to have other lists such as music, videos (I guess I should call them DVDs) and web sites I want to check out for me or the kids.  All this info in a little binder- easy, but handy to keep up on reading with kids and my own personal choices.

One of my favorite quotes from this book is "Love, like literacy, is a great source of strength. And, like literacy, it is a gift we can give our children that never goes away".  It is a great resource and Coralville has 2 copies of this book you can check out and take home with you.  I'm currently in a book called Books for Boys- I'll let you know how that one turns out.