S found a book I love...

Sharon Creech is one of my favorite authors. She writes books that have depth, and I appreciate that in children's books.

I got hooked on her by reading Love That Dog. It follows Jack through a school year, and through his diary/journal/conversational style, we see him go from a resistant writer/reader to an author himself.

There are sections where I bawl, I gasp, I reminisce about my life too.

I usually do it as a class read aloud early in the year because it is a quick read with A LOT to think about.

I noticed one of my girls, S, reading it yesterday, so we talked for a bit. As we talked, she was aware of the storyline and got some of it, yet she was missing some of the deeper layers in the details.

Was I worried? No. First off, maturity makes a huge difference in how kids experience books. I remember reading Charlotte's Web independently in late Third Grade, but when I read it again in Fifth, I understood it on a completely different level.

We are also going to be reading the book together, so she will have some AHA! moments then. I was just excited to see her pick it up.

Usually after we do Love that Dog, there is a rush to get a hold of her other books. Some I love: Replay, Hate that Cat, Granny Torelli Makes Soup, Heartbeat, Walk Two Moons...she has others, but those are the ones I focus on with my 8 year olds...the content is rich and again, deep.

Happy Saturday!