The Trumpet of the Swan

E B White comes through once again.

This time David, Claire and I are reading about Louis. He's delightful. And, we're all caught up in the drama. Should he have taken the trumpet? What will happen to him?

We came across the word "cygnet" in another book we were reading. "Mom!" Claire said with a big smile. "We know what that means!"

I think that's one of the biggest reason that I enjoy reading to my kids - the shared experience, the learning of new names, places, people together. In my grad school speak, I'd describe it something like: "the social purposes of literacy, the literacy practices embedded in relations, in home life, in parent child relationships". In my life at home, it's much more simple. It's one of the few times in my day when we all sit down together - they sit on my lap or close enough for our shoulders to touch. We talk, we read, we ask questions, we offer ideas, we laugh, we gulp in the story and always want more.

This past summer, we went to 3 HSRT children's performances: The Brand New Kid, Busy Town and Frog and Toad. Wonderful. All of them. Jacob still runs around and acts out the snail mail carrier from Frog and Toad. I catch David singing the "Cookies, cookies, cookies" song when he thinks no one is listening.