Monday Monday

The Monday at the beginning of this week was worse than last week. No kids showed up at all - for math or reading. We gave them an hour - an hour in which I read half of Bunnicula - and then we drove home. I think the lack of kids is probably because it's August, and that night it was also stormy with lightning and rain showers. When school starts, they'll be back! With homework, I expect.

Bunnicula is fantasticly funny. I think it will be one of the books we give our soon to be seven year old niece for her birthday. Apparently she went all the way through Hooked On Phonics and is now "a reader", at least by her Dad's standards - though he is not a reader. I still can't always believe I married into a family of people who (mostly) don't read for pleasure. Which is why it's my goal to give the nieces lots and lots of books to use as jumping off points. Unfortunately six-nearly-seven loves Barbie above and beyond all else. Their house is full of pink plastic. So, if she's now "a reader", I need to foster that notion.

However I did note that he was reading a considerably longer chapter book to her - one about dogs by Bill Wallace - and I know that she loves all things Rabbits. I'm looking into the Animal Ark series, because so far that I'm up to date she wants to be a vet when she grows up. Pony Pals might be closer to her reading level but of course it's just about horses.

I also plan to look for some nice copies of the classic childrens books, something she can cherish. That way I can also ensure that I don't buy duplicates of books I've already given in the past.

By the by, Esme Codell's book, How to Get Your Child to Love Reading has lists and lists and lists of suggestions for children who like individual animals, or individual hobbies, et cetera. Niece loves rabbbits, and there's a list of ten or twelve books that feature rabbits. Which is great because other than Peter Rabbit and that Eric Rohmann book that won the Caldecott recently, I don't think I could have though of many off the top of my head.