Current Read-Aloud

I really love reading to children. It probably is my favorite thing to do in the classroom. Finding the "perfect" chapter book is always something that takes a good deal of time and consideration. Sometimes I start off with a classic that I think the children are going to love, but the group finds it a bit dry...perhaps they are just a year too young?  Or the book just didn't stand the test of time? You just never really know.

Of course, I wanted to start the year off with something perfect - something that fit our theme, Outdoor Exploration, and was also written beautifully and with great humor. Hopefully, something that some of them hadn't heard before - was that too much to ask?

Luckily, I found just the thing, already on my bookshelf at home. My beloved copy of Winnie the Pooh. I got my own copy at Christmas the year I turned 8, so very close to the age of my classroom children. I was a big fan of pooh bear, having received the bear at the age of 5, and having been read many of his stories as I drifted to sleep each night. So I remember it was a pretty big deal getting my very own hardcover book, inscribed to me by my darling mama.

We are really, really enjoying this book - and amazingly, none of the children have heard the stories (except on video, movies, and the like). Or at least they don't remember having done so. In any case, they were amazed to hear that Christopher Robin was a real boy (Christopher Robin Milne), and these stories were told to him by his father, AA Milne. And that there was a REAL Winnie the Pooh, who still exists! Rachel was nice enough to share this link, which I also shared with the children today.

Anyway, here is a picture of MY pooh bear, in all his glory (53 years old) and my book (50 years old). Sophia held Pooh very gently today and said, "Well I think he is very handsome. In his own way." I think so, too.