When I did my student teaching (back in the time of the dinosaurs) I was introduced to a book that was to become one of my favorite read-alouds of all time: Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. The first time I read it, I actually had to stop silent reading and read it out loud, to myself, in my small bedroom. In the high and far off times, oh best beloved..........how can you not be compelled to read a story that begins this way?
Since then, I have actually memorized a few of the stories (The Elephant's Child, How the Camel Got His Hump, How the Whale Got His Throat, How the Rhino Got His Skin) and they are part of my storytelling repertoire. I looooooove them.
Stories like these BEG to be read aloud. They demand it. That is what I am working for in one of my WIPs.........words that make someone want to read it aloud, just to hear how the words sound against the breath of the wind.
Yeah, I know that I'll probably not ever write anything on my own that I can perform as good as my rap version of Green Eggs and Ham (seriously, you have to see it to believe it.......but probably you don't want to......really.......it might haunt you). But to capture those words that beg for the reading......that is the ultimate goal.
hrh
4 comments:
That first sentence is indeed remarkable. I will have to check this little gem out. It's another thing to add to my list of treasures.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
I personally believe there should be MORE books like you described. My niece and nephew want two stories read to them before they go to bed and I've found many of the books I'm reading to them lack...something. The one about the monkey and pancake (or was it a pig) was pure genius. Brilliant. MORE of those stories.
aahhh to be able to write something that demands to be read aloud...
A lofty goal indeed. Good luck! You can do it!
Thanks girls! I think what I like about reading aloud is that sense of community....the wonder of a shared book.....like when you go to a movie and the theatre is packed and everyone is so jazzed....
(But I want to the book to be so demanding of read-aloudness that even if the reader is alone, they have to speak the words....yes, Katie, it's a pretty lofty goal....hope I'm up to it!)
Post a Comment