The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore isn’t new. I bought it a few years ago when it first came out and was all the rage. I tried to read it with Nico, but he was not interested–not even a little. I put it on the shelf and forgot about it.
Yesterday I read two books to the first graders. The first was The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. They loved it, hanging on the edge of their seat loved it. They were quiet as church mice as I read the last few pages, quietly absorbing every word, every picture. And boy, what pictures.
I know I’m not sharing anything new to many of you bookworms. Many of you either own the book, have read the book, or watched the award winning short film. I share this because when I got home, I took the book out of my purse and set it on the dining room table. Then I got caught up preparing dinner, feeding Buttercup, getting the mail…the usual stuff you do when you get home from work. After a while, I walked out of the kitchen to make sure the boys were on task with their homework. Nico wasn’t doing his homework–no surprise there–but he was sitting at the table reading The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Color me more than surprised! He read every word, but then spent an inordinate amount of time analyzing every picture. I could see him cataloging all the details, absorbing everything. The book is far below his reading level, but he read without my strong encouragement.
By the time Mikey was Nico’s age, he was well into chapter books, though he still enjoyed picture books. He still reads them today “to remember my childhood,” he says. (Good grief.) Nico is not Mikey, and that’s more than okay. It was a good reminder to not compare my children and to refrain from pushing one beyond what they are ready to do. Nico can read more advanced books. He’s actually a strong reader. But, for whatever reason, he lacks the interest and the confidence to do more. If I continue to force him to do what I believe is his level, the only thing I will accomplish is to make reading just another task he has to complete. It’s time to rethink the kind of books I encourage Nico to read.
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ear: A West African Tale is the other book I read to the first grade, in case you were curious. It’s a cumulative tale, which the kids always love. They think it’s the true mark of an adult to be able to say “ULTRA SO MANY WORDS MRS. KENDALL” without having to take a breath.
Have you tried comic books with Nico? Just a thought because of the words-and-pictures thing. There’s a ton of information out there about comics for kids – and even as an adult, I can assure you there are heavy, meaty, theme-y, literary comics and graphic novels (so much more than Superman!).
Do you have any recommendations? The graphic novels I have seen are more for tweens. The comic books he has read, he does so in minutes. They are only pages long! He likes Captain Underpants now. Last year he didn’t like it at all. He’s resistant to change and new things, I guess.
Try Binky The Space Cat. It made me laugh out loud but the kids love it too.
Also, and slightly off topic, did you know there is a picture book coming out about the one and only Ivan? October 7!
Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla
Well, I didn’t discover the book until last spring–so you never know. When I did, I loved it, but it seemed more like a picture books for adults. I think a fair number of them are, and it doesn’t surprise me that it’s appealing more to Nico now than it did then. My son is also a strong reader, but it’s not his first-choice activity. He’s a picky reader, and he has a hard time finding books he wants. But some encouragement: Last Friday, we went to a bookstore to get a book for his nephew. Ended up spending more than an hour there, and walked out with two books for him (which I happily bought!). Best mother-son date-night I’ve had in a long time. :-)
I thought the book was more for an adult, too. I got choked up when they were talking about him flying away on his books, looking how he did decades before. Only one child figured out what that meant.
Snippet:: Verna Aardema was from the town I was born in (New Era, Michigan). My grandpa was actually her insurance agent. I have a signed copy of “Why Mosquitos Buzz in People’s Ears” and another (my favorite) by her, “The Vingananee and The Tree Toad”. If you get a chance to check that one out I highly recommend it. My kids LOVE it (mostly because of the fun words you get to say). And I actually hadn’t heard of “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” so I’m excited to check it out for my littles!
What a small world! I’ll check out that other book. I’ll bet we have it in the library.
I had a teacher recommend it to me when it first came out. I was so stressed and overwhelmed that year that I flipped through it, and didn’t get into it. A few years later, I was putting together an AR point party and came across the short film. So we screened the film at the party and handed out little popcorn bags and juice boxes. The kids loved it! My middle school nephew was roped into popping the popcorn, and ended up asking to stay because he was so into the story.
One more plug for reading whatever suits your fancy! I managed to get through fancy private middle school and public high school whilst reading the bare minimum of “classics” and faked my way through boring classics when forced to (e.g. book report on Moby Dick based purely on cliffnotes…), but read voraciously, scored 99% on the SAT verbals, and graduated double ivy (if that’s what Nico wants) just fine (although at the risk of being called “excellent sheep”)*. I was reading John Grisham by 6th grade but read Harry Potter in high school/college along with any good YA and picture books that came out just for fun while continuing to read “age-appropriate” classics such as Jane Eyre, etc.
*See http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/20/books/william-deresiewicz-tours-the-colleges-of-excellent-sheep.html
PS. Do you really have spell check on your comments?? Amazing!! ^_^
I also have a first child who’s an avid reader and a second who is not so much. For Nico, check out: Stick Dog, Missile Mouse, Cardboard, Fangbone, Zita, and the Adventures of BeanBoy. Oh, and Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius.
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