Ivan takes the Phantom Tollbooth to World Book Night

I love the concept of World Book Night.  What is there not to love?  They give you a box of the books you most want to give away and you get to give them away.  This year the list of potential titles was awesome.  I was having the hardest time deciding until I saw Norman Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth.

I first read this book as a kid, and then re-read it in college, and periodically I take it down off the shelf on a rainy weekend and read it all over again.  It is just that kind of a book.  Timeless, with a thread of humor that is just wicked enough to make you giggle to yourself.

So I selected the Phantom Tollbooth and thought about all the ways I could share it with others. My church does a yearlong reading program with fourth and fifth graders and I thought this might be the perfect place.  Luckily, the program leaders agreed to both the book and the idea of Ivan helping to pass it out.

I tried to make cookies for the event in the shape of letters.  Epic fail!  They puffed up and out and all over.  No longer recognizable as letters.  Wrong sugar cookie recipe for crispy edged letters.  So luckily the local grocery store had some.  Nabisco to the rescue!

Ivan was thrilled to be there.  The kids were a bit of a hard sell on the book.  It was going to be a stretch for them but it is such a great book, I still think it will be a book they come to treasure.

After we read the first chapter, introducing the kids to Milo, we went on to the real reason they were there:  Reading Club.  The kids split into small groups and paired up with an adult reader.  Ivan got to read with each group.  He still does not quite understand why anyone would pick a book over playing with him.  But he was a good sport about it and the kids loved him.

It is so much fun to watch kids get into reading, playing with words, thinking about meanings and translating the message into something relevant to their own lives.  I don't remember learning to read per se but I do remember sitting in my Dad's lap reading the "funnies" each night in the newspaper.  I loved our together time and the feeling of security being held in his arms.  Hopefully, Ivan will eventually come to understand that sitting next to someone while they read you a story is one of life's wonderful moments!