Riding in the car to Dallas to see my Aunt Cissy always brought much excitement to this 5-6year old. Yes, I would be spoiled with goodies from my dad's older sister, and I would relish the time in the car with my dad, but having Clifford protecting us along the way encapsulated my attention the entire journey down I-10. Dad regularly read me Clifford the Big Red Dog books at bedtime. I didn't have a real dog, but it would be Clifford if I did. I loved Clifford, and I knew Clifford loved me. Why? My daddy told me so. Clifford would ride on top of the car all the way to Dallas. I never saw him, but Dad said he knew he was on top of the car by the weight of the roof, and every once in a while, he'd see Clifford's tail wagging in the back. He kept us safe from car crashes and bad weather. Even though I couldn't see him, I'd tell him stories from the backseat about how he lived with Emily Elizabeth and all the adventures they shared in his books. Then, magically, when we arrived at my aunt's apartment, Clifford shrank to the size of my stuffed animal of him, riding securely in the trunk. "That's okay," I thought. I often packed my bag full of his books, so we could keep reading of his adventures while I was on my own in Dallas.
Years later, my miniature Clifford sits above my desk, keeping a watchful eye on my students. I have a bucket of newer Clifford books to read with the class at different times throughout the year. My original Clifford the Big Red Dog book is in a shadowbox, safe to view, and a reminder of fun childhood memories.
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"It's book fair week Mom! Can I please have some money?" I begged my mother. "Books only," stated Mom. "Of course," I thought. Gleefully, I would enter the library and stay as long as allowed, spending every bit of the cash my mom sent with me. Cloudy With A Chance Meatballs caught my eye. Visualizing giant-sized meatballs was an intriguing idea for a plump second or third grader. Imaging myself in the town of Chewandswallow was a laughter-filled pastime for my sister and me. We would critic and modify the story to our liking. Pretending to run our own open-roof restaurant, we would forecast the menu to our patrons, making sure the menu was classy, not messy.
Years later, when the movie was released, I shared the book with my current class. This was our first real exposure to the idea, "the book is often better than the movie." Unfortunately, this was also one of the first times I was disappointed in a movie, as the book was only a launchpad for a movie that really didn't correlate with the original text. Nevertheless, the comparison and contrast of the book and movie provided a real-life discussion regarding children's books and the movies made from them in my classroom.
Those early exposures to the book fairs ignited a love for all things books even years later. I work in a Title 1 school, therefore, many times my students are not able to purchase more than a book or poster. I fill my book display with new books from the book fair, so we can enjoy a new read aloud from books they just saw available to purchase. Admittedly, this is a selfish action, reliving those early book fair memories from my childhood.
Full disclosure, I am not "allowed" <wink, wink> to visit Barnes and Noble or the book department at Target without a chaperone. Buying children's books is definitely an addiction I do not plan to recover from any time soon. As for my students, I don't think they mind.
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