It’s been more than a couple of weeks since I last posted.  I’ve been in a non-litty headspace.  But after a conversation with the boyf today about what I do and don’t like, and what is and is not important to me, I may be ready to come back.

Today I was discussing with my students what things were “Roman” pursuits and what things were “Greek” pursuits.  We’ve been reading about this in their text.  We reviewed the “Roman” activities: building roads and bridges; farming; fighting wars.  The students agreed that these were “physical” pursuits, “work."  We then reviewed the “Greek” activities: sculpting, painting, reading.  I said, “And what kind of activities are these?"  I was thinking “intellectual” here, as that’s what folks generally oppose to the physical.

Their response?  “Boring." That just made me sad.  After further discussion, I realized that the students know being able to read is important; they simply didn’t value it as a leisure pursuit.

Of course, that’s just one class.  In a different class, we could have booktalks just about every day.  They’re almost all heavy readers in that class.  At any given time, at least a third of the class has a novel to pull out in case of free time.  So that was reassuring.

So, yeah.  Reading is important.  I get it, universe.  I’m with you.

I just finished reading The Golden Compass.  What have you been reading?

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The other pursuit that takes up my time and often keeps me away from the kidlitosphere is craft.  My preferred craft is crochet, though I love to read about others.  Fortunately, a relatively new blog has united these two realms.  Children’s Lit ‘n Knit is written by Shelly Hattan, an engineer, knitter, and reader.  Shelly’s lit-knit began with a Captain Underpants she made for her nephew, and has continued with various other suggestions.  She’s soliciting ideas for the blog, so if you’ve got a brilliant idea for a toy/book pairing, drop her a line!  My favorite entry is Where the Wild Things Are.  I am all about crowns and cat hats.

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See you soon, I hope!