"I Love to Read" at École Crane

It all came full circle yesterday. I'm referring to my book reading at École Crane, not the fact that I began and ended the day with a bite (or six) of chocolate.

When I was a child, in the long ago days of yore, when there were no home computers and the world wide web would make one think of colossal spiders, I walked those halls myself. In the olden days though, it was simply Crane School, as French Immersion had yet to be invented.

I had the pleasure of being part of Crane's, "I Love to Read Month" and was asked to read from, Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food, to all the third graders. Seeing my Sarah's beaming face smiling at me the entire morning, was one of my most favourite Mother Moments to date.

My earliest body of work.

I began by sharing the books I made when I was a 5th grade student at Crane. We then watched the book trailer and I read Lesson 5 - Lunch Time Can Be Tricky (spaghetti should never be eaten with your hands.)

Super cool and amazing book trailer.

When they asked me to read the next chapter, my heart soared. How could I say no?

So on we read - Lesson 6 - A Library Voice is Even Quieter Than an Inside Voice (the newest best book in the universe should never be on the top shelf.)

The kids asked awesome questions and we discussed Connor's Asperger's Syndrome. One little girl shared that her uncle has Asperger's and told us her understanding of what that meant. She was bang on.

I was able to stay with Sarah's class for a while longer, reading the first few chapters of Spaghetti and fielding more brilliant questions. Did I mention these kids were smart?

We finished off reading the "about the author" page from my grade 5 masterpiece, Sparky the Elf. The kids found it hilarious that 10 year old me was "great at climbing trees and talking and eating food." I am not exaggerating. I had skills.

Although I have given up climbing anything higher than a step stool, I am quite fond of talking (no kidding!) and eating all sorts of food. (especially chocolate)

"Sparky the Elf" Written and Illustrated by J.C. Griffiths. I was very accomplished in 1979.