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September 6, 2011

In Celebration of My Son's 10th Birthday


Today is my son's 10th birthday.  He has now reached double digits! On his birthday list is the following:

  • Train set - I believe it's an O scale one
  • Legos
  • Several Micro Machine Star Wars sets - from like the 80's! He's into retro stuff

Did you see what is missing??? Yup that's right - no books. None.  Not that I excepted to see any.  My son is not a reader.  I am an English teacher.  I run a book review blog.  Do I struggle with this?  Yes and no. Yes because I'm passionate about reading, and I think everyone should read books! No because every time I say he is not a reader I remember something - he does read.  Quit a bit actually.  Just not the reading I do. So today I thought I'd share the best reading for a nonreader in terms of my son.

My Son's Top Ten Reading Recommendations for Those Who Don't Read

  1. Anything Calvin and Hobbes - the books are falling apart because he reads them too much!
  2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - all of them.
  3. Large nonfiction books with pictures along with the text about such topics as space, trains and Star Wars.
  4. Comic books - he's recently discovered them.
  5. Any children's encyclopedias - my mom gave him a two book set and he has read them to death.  He knows so much because of them.
  6. Anything on the Internet about how to set up a train set including digging through an internet site to find the cost of shipping
  7. The Lego Magazine - how else do you learn what to build???
  8. Snoopy books
  9. Any book from the library about the topic he's currently obsessed er, interested in
  10. Novels - GRAPHIC NOVELS.  You see it needs to be a novel with illustrations and NO long chapters
My son has taught me, a lover of books, something that I never truly got - that reading is not just novels.  That reading comes in all shapes and sizes, and we all approach it differently.  He has taught me how to work better with those students in my classroom that are just like him. He has taught me that I can't call someone a nonreader just because they don't read novels. Readers read - end of story.  Duh right?  Yup, but it took him to grind that into me.   I owe him a world of debt (don't tell him or he'll start listing all the things I can buy him to pay him back!)

Happy birthday big guy!!! I<3 you!


6 comments:

  1. Tales of WhimsySeptember 6, 2011 at 10:13 AM

    Wow. What a great post and excellent reminder.

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  2. JanaSeptember 6, 2011 at 10:31 AM

    Happy Birthday!! Double digits are fun.

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  3. Elizabeth G.September 6, 2011 at 10:41 AM

    Happy Birthday! What a great post. I love the top 10 and the reminder that most of our kids are readers...not all like the traditional book. Hope it's a special one full of building!

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  4. SarahSeptember 6, 2011 at 12:04 PM

    I think this is a fabulous post because it is so much reading your son is doing! May not be traditional but he obviously isn't shirking reading. I'm glad he's passionate about those books!

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  5. KristenSeptember 6, 2011 at 9:32 PM

    Graphic novels are the best! That was my most asked question today during library orientation. "How many graphic novels can we check out???" Makes me smile :)

    Happy birthday to your son! Reading is reading whether in graphic novel, comic book, etc form. :)

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  6. Andrea MackSeptember 7, 2011 at 5:52 AM

    It is so true that reading is much more than novels. If you look at what you read as an adult, probably a lot of it is nonfiction (I read blogs, recipe books, newspaper articles, magazines, as well as novels). And I love reading the Lego magazine too - it's so cool, seeing all those creations kids have made.

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