Beekle!

Today I got to do something I don't often have the pleasure of doing: I read to a classroom of kids.  Elementary kids, to be exact.

Full disclosure: I love reading aloud.  
I read to my kids.  
I read to my students when I was in the English classroom. 
I occasionally read out loud to myself.  
When I was in 4th grade I volunteered to read aloud to the class. Yes, to my own class.  (I loved it.  The other students? I am not sure they were crazy about it. )

I really love the feel of the words, the expression it can bring, the effect it has, the sounds. 

I also love being read to.  I am a sucker for audiobooks. If I am going to spend money on a book, it is typically an audiobook (often because the library doesn't have the book on audio, but that is another day's discussion). 

So, when I became the librarian for the district, which includes a high school, a middle school, and two elementaries, I always hoped I could get back to reading aloud. 

When I graduated from college, I briefly (5 months) clerked at the public library in Bradley, Illinois, and I was able to talk the director into letting me run a children's story time.

But I have spent the last 19 years dealing almost exclusively with high school, which is a tough crowd for "let me read to you".  

So at the beginning of the school year, I suggested it to the elementary teachers, they were very gracious in accepting the idea, and we were on our way!

Beekle by Dan Santat
© Dan Santat

Today was the inaugural voyage, and I had a blast!

I read The Adventures of Beekle, the Unimaginary Friend. 

It is such a beautiful book. Poignant, powerful, honest.  And it is also funny.  Heck, the second graders could barely contain themselves when they realized you could see Beekle's butt. 

Beekle's Butt!
© Dan Santat

I read to five different classes from kindergarten to fourth grade and had a ton of fun. 

Everyone loved guessing what Beekle actually was and each class had different ideas. ("A pillow!"  "A snowman!" "A ghost!" "The king of ghosts!"  "Baby Baymax!")

 Each class noticed different things. ("The panda is made of crystal!" "That dragon looks like candy!" "That guy is the shape of a puzzle piece!")

They laughed and smiled.  They felt sad for Beekle when he was alone and confessed to, like some characters in the book, occasionally needing nap ("I could take a nap right now!")

The kids made predictions. 
They extrapolated. 
They noticed. 
They listened. 

Everyone wanted him to have a friend. Almost everyone readily acknowledged that they too had an imaginary friend (at one point or another). 

Books really do bring people together.  With an age range of five years (and a five years that makes a huge difference), this book crossed the divide and gave me the chance to interact with some great young people, sharing a good story and a few laughs. 

But more than that, if gave me a way to get in the classroom, meet the kids, and share a book with them. 

And that is a wonderful feeling.