February 12, 2013

It's been a long time coming, with much hemming and hawing and procrastinating, to put this down in black and white. As someone pointed out, my year-long Second Childhood Reading Project should've been a blog from the get-go. At least in this day and age. When the remarkable year of reading ended (that would be late November 2012, early December), I decided to transfer the Word document to a blog. And then I got shy. (I sound like Grover talking and singing with Lena Horne in the early days of Sesame Street.) Some people had expressed interest--but were they just being kind? I'd told some people I'd like them to read the Word doc--or blog--but did they agree merely to be polite? -hand-wringing-

And so I didn't do anything.

But it was still on my mind.

Then it came up again in a Facebook conversation with a "Friend"--someone I've never met but wish we'd been lifelong friends. In almost a childhood dare situation, she agreed to start the blog her friends have been urging her to write if I would start mine. Lent seemed the perfect time to "take on" this responsibility and perhaps become a better person by it. Thanks, Cheryl!

Even with that commitment now, I have some advice for any potential readers. First, this project was intended just for me, so if any of it interests you it is a bonus. While I'd enjoy any conversatons prompted by my year of reading children's books (by myself or with my grandchildren) you're not obligated. Even I acknowledge that it begins fairly dully, but I think it perked up as I really got into it. Let me say it now, and I'll probably repeat it later: This project turned out even better than I'd imagined it would and I feel such fulfillment from having treated myself to this year of reading indulgence. Plus, it's led to one conversation so far with my grandchildren (the oldest just saw a play of The Little Princess over the weekend) and I've continued reading some of my "leftover" books.

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On my 65^th birthday, November 16, 2011, I coincidentally received a NOOK and a hardcover edition of I Read the OED. Old and new. I spent days pondering two things: which books I wanted to download first onto my NOOK (they couldn’t be just any old books—not my style) and what project I could take on for 365 days, something I’ve been intrigued to do since the Julie and Julia project of 7 or 8 years ago. Out of those deep thoughts came the inspiration for this 2^nd childhood project.

Children and children’s books are a big part of my life with 6-, 4-, and almost-2-year-old grandchildren. One of the three books I downloaded was My Life as a Furry Red Monster by Kevin Clash, the puppeteer inside Elmo from Sesame Street; another was Mr. Popper’s Penguins, which was a favorite of mine as a child. It’s one of the classics I didn’t miss. I was a constant but unguided reader growing up. This project wants to make up for that. No, I don’t necessarily mean going back and reading children’s books from the ’40s and ’50s but I want to read classics that I missed, re-read some classics that I did enjoy or maybe just books that made the “classic” status with my personal taste, and read new books.

The first book I chose is a true classic, having been written in 1908. You’d think I would’ve picked it up somewhere along the way, wouldn’t you? My son even read it in 5^th grade. But a copy of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame was languishing on my shelf of children’s books. I picked it up right away and delighted in reading it. Toad, Mole, Rat, and Badger—what a band of friends! I also realized that children back in the early 20^th century must have been much smarter than children today. Fantastic language in this book! You know that made my heart sing.  So now on to book number 2.