How not to kill Santa
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| Who's not real? photo by Thomas Ricks |
The third grade is beginning a Genre Bingo challenge. Over the next few months, they will read books from twelve different genres like realistic fiction, fantasy, nonfiction, or poetry. Each week, the librarian is working to help the kids distinguish between different types of stories. Last week, they learned about realistic fiction.
Before they could check out books, the students were sent on a scavenger hunt through the library to find one realistic fiction book. There were two young men who spent nearly fifteen minutes bringing fantasy, fairy tales, and science fiction to the librarian. Each time they were sent back.
I couldn't take much more. Library Volunteer to the Rescue!Maybe it was that there were too many choices? I grabbed two books, Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
and Beverly Cleary's DEAR MR. HENSHAW.
Together with the boys, I went through the steps the librarian had suggested for determining the genre of an unfamiliar book, looking at the covers, reading the jacket copy, skimming the chapter titles, and noticing any illustrations.
Confident the boys would get it right, I held out the two books and said, "So which one is realistic fiction? Which one could really, truly happen?"
They looked at each other and at the books, and finally up at me. "That one," they said, pointing directly to CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
I stumbled, "Wh-what? Are there really candy factories with chocolate rivers in them? How about Oompah-loompahs? And squirrels that sort nuts? In a factory? All of that is real?"
They nodded solemly.
"Really?"
Well, that was it then. Somebody was wrong, and the looks on their faces made it clear that it was me.
Suddenly, I felt sad. And very old. And sad.
Why couldn't I believe there was a candy factory out there full of this kind of magic? It was like I was the grim reaper come to collect poor old Santa from the dreams of children.
The librarian made her way over to us. "So which did you boys pick?"
They looked at me, clearly unhinging before their impressionable eyes, and then at the books. Finally they pointed to DEAR MR. HENSHAW.
I don't know if they honestly believe that a story about a boy who writes letters to his favorite author in hopes of figuring out his parents' divorce is something that could actually happen, or if they just felt sorry for me.
Either way, I think we all learned something in the library that day. Reality is in the eye of the beholder.
And somewhere in this world, I've been assured, there is a chocolate river. One day, I'll find that thing.
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| Look out, chocolate. Here I come. photo by Alessandro Paiva
www.alessandropaiva.com
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There's a river of chocolate. You just have to keep looking:)
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