Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon (or, How I Tricked Maxwell into Reading a Book, Part 2)

Okay, so before you all think that I'm some extremely controlling mother who monitors every single word my children read, let me just defend myself by saying this: I am totally fine with letting my kids choose (some of) their own books. However, the library can be a very overwhelming place (I know that all too well myself), so if they don't have some sort of plan going in, they end up coming home with stuff that just sits untouched in the library basket because they weren't actually interested in reading it--they just wanted to choose something.

So, meanwhile, I choose my own books for them and then place them strategically around the house or make rather blatant suggestions. Sometimes it works, but, more often than I'd like to admit, it doesn't, and then I'm left with books like Dory Fantasmagory hanging out at our house for weeks until we finally use up all our library renewals and have to take them back.

After I read Dory and the Real True Friend for the Cybils, I went back and checked out the first one because I'd found the second one so funny and delightful. I thought for sure it was a book Max would like. So every time he was looking for something new to read, I'd say, "How about Dory?" You can imagine that it didn't take very many times before that got really old, like, "Really, Mom? Do you only have one book you can recommend?"

Finally, with it's due date looming, I decided to just read it myself. I was in between books at the time, waiting for some of my holds to come in at the library, and even if all my kids were rejecting Dory, that didn't mean I had to.

Within just a few pages, I was laughing . . . like, really laughing, out loud. I couldn't help myself. Dory's imagination is just too amazing. She's the youngest in her family and regularly gets left out of Violet and Luke's games. She usually doesn't mind because she has Mary, her imaginary monster, to play with, but sometimes she just really wants to be included. One day, in another attempt to get her to stop acting like a baby, Luke and Violet tell Dory about Mrs. Gobble Gracker, who is five hundred and seven years old and loves to steal baby girls. In fact, she's actually been looking for Dory.

Instead of being frightened into acting more mature, Dory is fascinated. Her head is buzzing with questions about Mrs. Gobble Gracker, and pretty soon, she is off on an adventure to defeat this evil opponent.

A couple of night after finishing it, the boys were getting ready to go to bed. We had just finished a chapter of Rascal, and Aaron and Max were trying to decide what they should each read in bed.

I decided to make one final attempt . . .

"So, I just read Dory, and it was so funny. I seriously could not stop laughing. Maybe you should try it."

"Really?" Max said suspiciously. "Why was it so funny?"

"Yeah," said Bradley. "Tell us about one of the funny parts."

"Okay," I said. And so I told them about the part where Dory goes to the doctor for a check-up, but she's disguised as a dog because she's trying to outsmart Mrs. Gobble Gracker. Her mom is trying to get her out the door so they'll make their appointment on time. She's saying things like, "Dory, did you hear me say we are in a rush??? We have an appointment. We can't be late." But Dory says, "it just doesn't mean anything to me, because I'm a dog!" At the doctor's, Dory answers all of the questions with "woof-woof!" and Dory's mother is so embarrassed. And, as if that isn't enough, Dory gives the doctor a "shot" at the end by jabbing her sucker stick into the doctor's thigh."

My kids laughed and laughed at this retelling, and then Bradley said, "Please just read the first chapter?"

And so I did. And then my biggest problem was not trying to get them to read the rest of it but breaking up the fight between Max and Aaron because they both wanted to take it to bed with them.

I ended up reading the rest of the book to Bradley the next day, the last two chapters of which were in the car on our way to our family's cabin. Mike kept chuckling, but when we got to the part where Dory keeps getting out of bed because her imagination has gotten away from her and she thinks Mrs. Gobble Gracker is actually real, Mike and I were dying. Our kids looked at us like we were crazy because we were laughing like maniacs in the front seat. (Actually, we were laughing as only parents who have experienced the exact same scenario can laugh, right down to the part where Dory's father says, "Stay. In. Bed! Because it's not safe for you to come out." And then Dory hears him laugh a tiny bit as he closes the door.)

Besides her brilliant imagination, I also just love Dory's story for its honest, candid look at family life. Dory's parents get frustrated (her mom has a little breakdown when she finds Dory's giant fort in the living room); Violet and Luke are jerks (they ignore Dory, call her names, and tattle on her). If it only showed the tension and bickering, I wouldn't have liked it at all. But, just like in a real family, there are some really sweet moments too, and those counterbalance the others and make everything more meaningful and realistic. Her family has a strong foundation of love and friendship, even if the day-to-day moments don't always reflect that super well.

So my ploy worked. I've made Dory converts out of every single person in my family, even Mike. I think we'll be talking about Mrs. Gobble Gracker for years.

Have there been any books that took your kids some convincing before they read them? And . . . are there any other Dory fans out there?

One of Our Very Favorite Old Men

At our house, we adore Mr. Putter and Tabby. Sadly, I feel like they're not as popular or well-known as Cynthia Rylant's other great characters, Henry and Mudge. Don't get me wrong, we're definitely not opposed to Henry and Mudge. We like them. But we, I repeat, adore Mr. Putter and Tabby.

Tonight Aaron was reading Mr. Putter & Tabby Write the Book for his 15-minutes of reading. It has been a really long day, and I was worried he would put up a fight because he was so tired. But Mr. Putter provided just the kind of cozy, comfortable reading we both needed.

In this episode, Mr. Putter decides to write a novel because there has just been a really big snowfall, and he and Tabby are too old to go out in it. First, he needs a title. He has always loved mysteries, so he decides to write a novel called The Mystery of Lighthouse Cove. Sounds intriguing. Then he decides he needs a snack. He makes a big apple salad, corn muffins, custard pudding, and a cheese ball.

And then comes this line:

"Mr. Putter spent three minutes on his title and four hours on his snack."

And it is because of sentences like that that we adore Mr. Putter and Tabby.

For more great early chapter book suggestions, check out this old post.

Raising Readers: Favorite Easy Readers

A few weeks ago, I promised to share some of our favorite easy readers.

But as I considered what to include on my list, "easy readers" seemed like too broad of a term; I found myself overwhelmed as I thought about including everything from the Bob Books all the way up through Mercy Watson.

So I decided to just focus on the level Aaron is at right now (which seems to be about late first grade/early second grade). I'll have to save the easier books for another time and list.

I'm going to call these "early chapter books," but someone please tell me if I'm using this label incorrectly. I'm a little confused by "early readers," "easy readers," "early chapter books," "transition books," etc. In general, the books I'm featuring in this post have a word count that ranges anywhere from 500 to 2000. The books are divided into several chapters and include a picture on almost every page.

Mr. Putter & Tabby by Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard
This series highlights the adventures of Mr. Putter (an elderly man), his faithful companion Tabby (a cat), his neighbor Mrs. Teaberry (an elderly woman), and her trusty friend Zeke (a dog). You wouldn't think two old people and their pets could have very exciting adventures, but you might be surprised. One of our favorites is Mr. Putter & Tabby Paint the Porch, but we still have many in this fantastic series that we haven't read yet.

Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo, illus. Chris Van Dusen
We fell in love with this series long before Aaron could read them on his own. Mercy is the beloved child of Mr. and Mrs. Watson. She's also a pig. (Er, I mean, a "porcine wonder.") She loves toast with a great deal of butter on it and a good chase. Somehow her adventures always seem to involve the fire department, as well as Eugenia and Baby Lincoln (next door neighbors), and one or two others. I've commented to Mike before about how I am amazed at what memorable characters Kate DiCamillo created with relatively few words. (And Chris Van Dusen's illustrations definitely don't hurt.)

Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold
These are probably the simplest and shortest books on this list, but oh, how all three of my boys love them. Bradley has taken to calling every fly he sees Fly Guy. And several times I have found Aaron reading them to his brothers without any prompting from me. I feel like they are definitely boy books since all of Fly Guy's adventures seem to include rotting food or violent attacks or being ingested. However, unlike a lot of boy books, I haven't found these ones to be filled with potty jokes, so I'm definitely a fan.

Penny and Her Song by Kevin Henkes
These ones are short and simple, too, but geared more toward girls, but so far, my boys have made no complaints about them. In fact, they'd forgotten what Penny and Her Song was about (we read it quite awhile ago), so they were thrilled to come upon it in the library the other day. Penny is a sweet little mouse who looks at life quietly and thoughtfully. The language is simple but sophisticated. So far there are three in this series (Penny and Her Marble just came out this year and is my personal favorite), but I'm hopeful more will follow.

Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant
I remember my brother loving these books when he was a kid, and it's so fun now to see my own child reading and enjoying them. There's obviously something enduring about a boy and his big, slobbery dog. They're written in such a matter-of-fact, down-to-earth way. Kids can instantly relate (even if you don't (and probably never will) own a big, slobbery dog).

Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Another much beloved series of my brother, this one features Nate, a kid detective with super mystery-solving skills. We've only read two so far, but Aaron loves trying to figure out the end before Nate does.

Frog and Friends by Eve Bunting
We only discovered this series last week, but I'm already adding it to our list of favorites. So far, I have found Frog's stories to be interesting and unique without being formulaic in the slightest. In the first book, Frog and his friends find an orange balloon and hypothesize (incorrectly) that perhaps it is a hippopotamus' egg. The balloon pops before they figure out what it is. They give it a proper burial, but then in Chapter 3, Frog meets a hippo and wonders with fear if the hippo is looking for his egg. It just struck me as funny, and I wasn't expecting that connection between the chapters. Really delightful.

What are your favorite early chapter books? We definitely need more ideas!

P.S. Are you wondering where Frog and Toad is on this list? Well, in spite of being featured in the above photo, the truth is, Aaron hasn't actually read Frog and Toad yet (yes, the photo was staged). I have nothing against Arnold Lobel (in fact, Aaron just read Grasshopper on the Road and loved it--definitely should have included it on this list, so just consider it mentioned). We'll get to it sometime in the future.

I shared this post at Mom's Library.