February Kid Books

The advantage of knowing elementary-school teachers is that when I post about spending a month reading books for kids, they chime in with suggestions. And they’re willing to let me borrow me books from their classrooms.

I was going to dive into my old copies, but thanks to my magnificent sister and my amazing teacher friend, I had some new-to-me stories to read.

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin is the story of an autistic girl whose dog is lost during a storm. It’s written from the main character’s point of view, which was sometimes inconsistent and sometimes hard to read given how the author portrayed Rose’s autism.

I was surprised by how … gritty the book was. I can’t think of another word. Maybe realistic. Rose’s home life is far from perfect. She and her single dad are poor, and he comes to close to physically abusing her. It makes sense that books reflect the real worlds that real kids live in. It’s not just the books I was used to reading when I was kid. I think it’s a change for the better, even if I wasn’t in love with this particular book.

Also new to me was Kate DiCamillio’s The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I also read her Because of Winn-Dixie in February. Edward Tulane is a china rabbit doll that goes through a series of owners and learns about the power of love. It was not my favorite. I like Winn-Dixie better.

Almost all of Edward’s owners after he first gets lost seem to be better people than his first owner. Their stories are more interesting. Not surprisingly, Edward is reunited with his original owner when she’s an adult and a mother. I think a reunion with any of the other owners would have been more poignant, but that’s just my opinion.

I re-read some titles based on the teachers’ recommendations. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate held up on a second read. It’s a story that I want to spend more time in. Applegate’s characters are distinct, and her story avoids schmaltz.

I remember really enjoying Love That Dog by Sharon Creech when I first read it. The story is written as a classroom notebook by its unnamed main character and is written in free verse. This time around, I found knowing the climax of the book ahead of time blunted its effect. it’s still good. And I’d definitely recommend it to people who haven’t read it.

The other book I grabbed both on recommendations and because it was on my shelf was From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Kongisburg. She wrote the book in 1967, so this isn’t going to have the modern realism of Rain Reign. Two kids run away to New York City where they live in the Met and discover the truth behind who sculpted a new acquisition. It was written in the 1960s – the kids have no problem sneaking into and living in the museum; nothing bad happens to them.

I’ve loved this book since it was assigned in 4th grade. The kids are precocious but since I read it when I was 9, they seem kind of awesome. If I ran away, little me thought, this was how I’d want to do it. Even now, the book makes me want to take a trip to the Met.

Starting Over Isn’t Fun

And that’s where I feel I am with running. Remember all those posts of yesteryear: me running a 5k, me on long runs in the woods, me excited that I was getting faster and stronger and all that cool stuff?

Yeah, well, that’s all fallen by the wayside. 2023 had a lot going on and I didn’t keep running on the list.

Fun fact, folks: when you stop exercising, your body doesn’t keep the same fitness level.

Stop Falling Over!

Over the last several years, I’ve ended up with a small collection of Funko Pop figures. I own about a dozen.

I display them on my bookshelves and board-game shelves. What bugs me about some of them is that their feet can be super narrow. With the big Funko head, they’re unbalanced and constantly fall over or need to be leaned against books. Robin Hood’s tail broke off, and the Scarlet Witch lost an arm.

I decided I’d had enough of picking up the figures so wanted to make bases for them. Spoiler: it worked.

Still Makes Me Cry [spoilers]

I finished Bridge to Terabithia. The book still makes me cry, like tears running down my cheeks and lots of sniffles.

It’s not just the death of one of the characters. That’s sad enough on its own. The way Patterson writes Jesse’s denial and grief is heartbreaking.

But just as I start to recover, Leslie’s dad announces he was going to leave the puppy that Jesse gave Leslie with Jesse, but that the dad just can’t. Look, I get the dad’s reaction: the puppy is something left from his daughter and the whole family loved the puppy.

But I feel for Jesse. And I cry again.

Time to Re-read Books

When it’s time to start a book, I tend to reach for books I haven’t read. I check books out of the library or buy something for my Kindle app. Except in February.

February is when I make sure to read books I already own on my physical bookshelves. In the past, I’ve devoted the month to re-reading Stephen King or Jonathan Carroll (both authors I recommend).

How it’s going

I’ve started the Narnia series even though getting through all six books took longer than February. I tried re-reading Lord of the Rings, but didn’t make it through them in the month.

This year, I’m turning to my shelves of children’s books. Not gonna lie – one of the reasons for picking these for my re-read is that I know I can get through them quickly and increase my chances of meeting my annual reading goal. I’m already behind for the year!

The Steiff tiger puppet guards the books.

I’ve already read The Borrowers and Bed-knob and Broomstick, both by Mary Norton.

I first read The Borrowers when I put my arm through a storm window and had to soak it to help the stitched wounds heal. The book was my “soaking book.” If your only familiarity with Bed-knob is the Disney movie (which dropped the hyphen and pluralized everything), check out the books. They’re very different.

I’ve moved on to Bridge to Terebithia, which is one of my all-time favorite stories that holds up as an adult reader.

The Steiff cat puppet just naps.

From the “B” titles, I might jump into the first couple of Anne of Green Gables or maybe head to older classics. I haven’t read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in forever and forget the details. Ditto for some of the other classic children’s book on the shelves.

I’ll post about the success or failure of the February re-read plans in March.