Book Day

I love it that my sons' school --although just as high tech as a lot of schools nowadays-- still champions the printed word.  In this day and age when kids mostly read from Macs and V-Techs, you don't see kids running around with books in hand.  But today, I saw these kids.  Lots of them!

The school's Oral Communication class asked each child to bring their favorite book to read to class.  This was a lovely idea on so many levels.  First off, through this exercise, a child hones his reading skills.  Also, his communication and presentation skills (which my boys sincerely slayed at!).  Lastly, this became the venue for each child to share a bit about themselves to their peers.

Miro chose books that he wrote himself.  The teachers and the students already knew that Miro wrote books 3 years ago but never have they actually seen him read these originals to them.  Although Miro was shy at first, it was empowering to be able to tell a story that's more personal to the author than any book he may have gotten from a bookstore.  His books got passed around after his storytelling session.  He wouldn't admit it, but this made him proud.

Kenji's exposition was a lot different.  He chose to bring his treasured Complete Thomas Trailways Collection.  A box of 4 Thomas and Friends classic episodes.  Not only did he present each story with calculated expertise (and a huge, beaming smile all throughout, according to his teacher), he also managed to reveal a side of him that's mature for his age.  More than a book reader (and a very animated storyteller), he's an avid collector.  

To cut the long story short (Get it?  Story?  *nudge-nudge*), Book Day was a success!
I can't wait for more self-enriching gems like these from my boys' school!

Fully Booked Fully Teleports

Let me welcome you to our lovely little go-to place on slow days.   Funny I never thought of blogging about this place before.  Even funnier that I can't ever remember to bring a decent camera whenever our whims take us here.

Fully Booked is more than just a rich receptacle of hard-to-find books.  It's a teleportation pod.  I'm sure it's cliche to say that a paperback CAN take you to different places beyond your imagination.  But Fully Booked does that and more.  It sets the mood even before you sit down with a hardbound.

The stairs, 'carpeted' with words upon words seemingly snatched from a few hundred pages of a novel, immediately tells you that you're up for some heavenly reading.

This extends to the vast area of flooring, and so I walk with my head down... reading where my foot falls.

This very same floor is where my children lounge as if they're comfortably back home.  They love the feeling and never get tired of having words and drawings around them.   
"It's like me being a character in the storybook!" --my son's words, not mine.
Oh, can you see that far wall over there?  That's a meticulously hand-drawn mural.

Almost every inch of wall and book shelf base here have these intriguing doodles in different graphic styles, illustrating different worlds.

Grabbing a book and sitting in a spot surrounded by these works of art gives you the whole teleportation package:
Book.
Riveting story.
Soft, wordy floor.
Your own choice of fantastic Otherworld as backdrop.
Let the out-of-body, out-of-mind reading experience commence.  And that's the best kind of reading there is. 

Another slow day coming up?  Nah, we're Fully Booked.