September—Principal’s Corner

“Fifty-Two Books in a Booth!”

By Michael Breault, Elementary Principal

I worked for the NH State Parks department one hot summer when it rained so much that I was trapped in a toll booth no bigger than my chair.

That was the summer of my young adult novel reading marathon. I was teaching middle school at that time and needed what I thought was valuable text information to share with my students when I returned to school in the fall. To my great surprise, I was engrossed with every book, hoping that no car would be foolish enough to pass so that I could keep reading. I then knew what had excited those preteens so much. The plots reflected their situations, the characters—their angst, their drive to be accepted. They enjoyed reading what they could connect to, what made sense to them. I enjoyed reading them also because I saw so many of my students in the character roles.

Children haven’t changed much. Even younger students still connect with what they know and like. Third, fourth and fifth graders will read a book if the character is their age or has a sibling their age. They will also read a book if a friend recommends it, but may shudder if a parent or teacher suggests the same title. They do know what they like.

Primary grade students are bit more “pliable” and can be enticed with many picture books about animals, and still wait for Mom or Dad to read that special book to them.

Summer reading has always been tricky. I was toll-booth-bound but captivated by the draw of the confused and misunderstood. The result was that I was better prepared to discuss my students’ thoughts about their reading. What happens with elementary students? Some might want to avoid reading entirely (and no toll booth handy) while others may be drawn to non-fiction. A third grader delightfully shared a Caring for Your Cat book recently while I know others were engrossed by How to Succeed at Origami’s detailed instructions ( I could read a million of these and still be unsuccessful). Still more crave a good mystery (I remember reading all of the Hardy Boys collection) or want to goose bump through some horror tales. Whatever your child’s choice, support their desire to know more, read more even if they didn’t read this summer. It’s OK to get back on track.

Have I read fifty-two books in one summer since that time? No. It was a sunny summer the following year and my thoughts turned to other activities. Have I read fifty-two books this year? Probably not.

But I still love to read.

For this summer, I had my books stacked up once again with good intentions. The same two books from last year by Augusten Burroughs (a definitely warped sense of humor, to be sure), three mysteries, a re-reading of the vampire chronicles by Anne Rice (complete set), and the Oprah-recommended book from three years ago. I plan to keep up my good intentions. I will take them on my next vacation ( to read on the plane) and maybe toss in a professional text to stay current, maybe a few young adult novels…

Happy Reading.