Think Back...

I have always enjoyed reading. I always had book with me when I was a kid. The free personal pizzas and good grades were just icing, really. I would have read those books anyway.

My earliest memories of reading were bedtime stories with my mom and dad. They both took turns reading with me at night, and each had their own style. Mom would read things like the Berenstain Bears--the entire series is still somewhere in the attic--and I would fall to sleep at a reasonable hour, probably out of boredom. Dad, on the other hand, read the stranger things like Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, and others. We would stay up often past midnight, on school nights no less. I (secretly) enjoyed those stories much more and still do now.

My absolute favorite book as a kid was "Where the Wild Things Are". I had such a wild imagination as a kid that my mom would sometimes call me "Max". I think that book also resulted in my not being scared of boogie-men or closet-monsters growing up... I would rather build a Lego spaceship with them.

A book that made a huge difference in my life was "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Of course, the metaphors are beautiful in it and the story was perfect, but what grabbed me so much as a kid was the space travel aspect. I wanted so much to be an astronaut so that I could find a planet of my own some day. Eventually I decided I liked writing more than I liked science. However, if they ever need volunteers (guinea pigs) to colonize Mars, I am first on board!

A "Good" Book

The book I chose in class was The Rainbow Fish. I think it was a "good" book because it helps kids learn how to be individuals and not follow the crowd. It also teaches them to share. It gives them a great story line of how he is the most beautiful fish in the sea and how everyone wants just one of his scales. He doesn't want to share his scales so everyone stops talking to him and leaves him to play by himself. The same as any kid would do if someone wasn't sharing with them. It teaches kids that sharing is one of the greatest things you can do with your friends. 

In the end he gave all his scales away so that he would have friends and no one would think he was being selfish, which in turn made him happy again. 

I think a "good" book should be able to teach kids life lessons without just going straight to the point. Good books should lean them in the right direction and get their thought processes going to try and figure out what they would do in a situation like that. 

I remember the books I read as a child. I loved for them to be about real things that taught me something useful but didn't make it a boring read. 

thinking back

My earliest memory of reading was when i read the book the three little pigs, and i only remember this because i got a new toy for reading the book the whole way through. Before i could read on my own my mom would read a different Dr. Seuss book to me every weekend, i loved the way Dr. Seuss wrote books and became inspired by his words, though confusing and strange they were full of meaning. In fact I was so into Dr. Seuss that i have read nearly all of his books. My favorite book though is the one my mom gave me when she found out she had cancer, its another Dr. Seuss book, "Did i ever tell you how lucky you are?" this is my favorite because it was the right words at the right time.
Like any kid i would rather have been playing outside or watching tv than reading, yet i was good at reading so often enjoyed a good book. My teachers have always read to my classes from what i remember, my favorite year though was when we had Mrs. Yount, she read us the Goosebumps books.Besides the Dr. Seuss book the only book that has made a difference in my life would be a squires tale, it gave me hope that any one can do anything. sadly now i dont read for pleasure, in fact i cant remember the last book i sat down and just started to read.

A Good Book

The first thing I think of when the term 'good book' comes to mind is the diversity that comes with it. There are so many books that some consider good while others find them terrible, this diversity is what I adore about books! There is so much room for conversation while discussing a book that some people like and others despise. As a child I hated to read, mostly because I was and still am a bit of a slower reader, this hindered me a lot as a young student. One Christmas my fathers partner gave me a book that was a bit out of the ordinary, he had read it one day in a book store just killing time and thought I would enjoy its colorful story. "A City in Winter" was its title and it was about a little girl who was heir to the throne of this little kingdom. It was a bitter sweet tale as she tried to regain her throne with her tutor to help her along the way. I remember so vividly sobbing at the end of the story because the girls tutor had sacrificed himself as the sign from God that she was the rightful heir. I loved this story because the only times I would read it was when I was right by the fire cuddled under my favorite afghan my grandmother had made me and I truly felt as if I could be that little girl sneaking about the castle trying to regain my rightful place. Oh to have that imagination again!

A Good Book: Megan Cotterman

One book to which I view as a "good book" is the book Sounder by Willian H. Armstrong. Sounder is a Newbery award winning book. It is about a young African American boy in the 19th century south who relies on his old coon dog Sounder to get his families meals. The book is a heart warming story and provides children a glimpse of the hard times that were faced in the south during a time of racisism and slavery. It is an historical fiction classic that teachers could have their children read in social studies when they talk about African American history.

A Good Book

As a child, I was always one of those who could make up games at the top of my head, or be completely content playing with action figures. My imagination was definitely my best friend when we would move around a lot. When I began to lose my self in books, it was just another way for me to escape. In my opinion, that is the epitome of a good book. An easy escape. I loved to imagine fairy tales so any happy ending story was perfect for me. I loved holding a book knowing that everything was going to be okay. That the prince was going to find the princess in time, that Stuart was going to find a home with the Little's, or that James is finally freed from his abusive aunts! The best stories are ones that you can become the hero or heroine.

For a children's book to be considered 'good' it must be easy to understand. The writing needs to be simpler, and the plot obvious. I never realized how much changed when transitioning for children to adult literature. There are no flash backs or plot twists. The things that are so thrilling in novels today would have been difficult for me to grasp years ago. For children to become passionate about a story or a book they must be able to relate to it. I never had trouble becoming involved in any story I read. To this day when I pick up a book my parents joke about me being in my 'reading zone'. If it is a truly good book I will block out the world around me until I finish the book or it is forced from my hands.

A Good Book

What I consider a good book is a book that has interest, developing characters, a problem and solution, and that lovable quality. A good book can draw readers in and keep them interested. I've read so many books that you start reading and you just can't put it down because it's just so great. A good book has a problem and solution within it's text. If the book doesn't have a problem, the books plot can't go up or down. It's like your just coasting along. With a problem, the plot builds. Within a good book, it has developing characters; characters that learn from mistakes or grow a person.

The book I chose to check out the other day for class was The Devil's Arithmetic. I would consider this a good book because it draws interest because the main character is a girl about the same age of the readers and they can relate to her. The book keeps the readers interest by increasing suspense. Throughout the book, the main character learns new things about her relatives she didn't know before and changes her opinions about her boring family gatherings. She learns that you have to get to know about the past to actually appreciate the future.