The Mystery of Book Sizes

My 4th Grade challenge turned out to be easier than I thought. The elementary school sent Snow Treasure, The Castle in the Attic, The Family Under the Bridge and My Side of the Mountain over on a Friday afternoon.  It happened to be a weekend when I didn't have any papers to mark, so I settled in Friday evening for the beginning of my task.  By Saturday evening I had the first three read.  I am still waiting to get My Side of the Mountain started because I had to shift into grading mode and haven't been able to read for fun.  I had to chuckle at myself - I forgot how easy children's lit reads.  I am used to reading something like a Charles Dickens book for a high school class.  That takes me a couple of weeks to read since I can only do a bit every night before bed. 

I am reminded of Mrs. Bender reading us a massive book in 2nd grade at Wolf Lake Elementary.  I had never seen such a big book and it seemed to take us weeks of out loud reading to get through it.  In high school I thought I would find that big book and read it again.  I was a bit disappointed when I found out that The Boxcar Children is really only about 150 pages and is rather thin.  I thought the copy I found in the bookstore must be an abridged version.  But those cherished books of elementary school follow the same old pattern - the slide at Wolf Lake isn't as steep as it once was and the monkey bars just aren't as high.  I still think Mrs. Bender had a special version of the book - one of those older editions from when the paper and cover were thicker than modern books.  And the print must have been bigger too. 

I am thankful over and over again that my Mom made reading an important part of my life when I was little. Trips to the library were great adventures.  Now I don't need technology to pass a lazy day.  Who can be bored when they have a good book?  I look at these chapter books laying on the bedside table and hope the 4th graders are excited to read these "massive" books and that they too will love reading as they grow.  Maybe they will even like Dickens when they get to high school - well, maybe that's asking too much.