A story within a story—the magic of coincidences.
July 14, 2014
I recently had the pleasure of presenting my Conversational Reading approach to a statewide group of CT Librarians. This was a dream come true audience for me since it satisfied a long held fantasy of mine—to know something about what people in my audiences actually do with the ideas I present. As part of the program, the librarians were offered a grant to implement programs in their individual libraries, using whatever portions of the Conversational Reading approach they had learned with me that best fit their needs.
I have been overwhelmed with the results and I just have to share one recent story that comes from Jane and Piper who work at the Library in West Hartford CT. Piper, a lovely lab and Jane do Story Time.
Meet Piper.
Jane choose Beatrice’s Goat to create a program based on Conversational Reading. Beatrice’s Goat is about how one small animal opened up a whole new world and made possible a young girl’s dream of attending school in her small Ugandan village after her family is given an income-producing goat. The story is based on a true story about the work of Heifer Project International.
Witness the magic that happens when adults and children with a passion for story come together.
www.piperlovesthelibrary.blogspot.com and scroll down to Wednesday, July 2, 2014 Reading Beatrice’s Goat Together
How it all started…with a little help from my friends, Andrew Eder & Diane Frankenstein
I couldn’t make up the unknown wonderful coincidences Jane discovered about how this story had special significance for this little town in CT.
“We discovered that Beatrice Biira, the real girl from Uganda, the girl in the book, came to the United States to continue her education. She came to Connecticut -she graduated from Connecticut College. We’re one of those tiny states, so this was pretty cool. Oh, there’s more…the Heifer Project International funds that brought the goats to Kisinga, Uganda, Beatrice’s village, came from a little village in Connecticut – Niantic.”
II want to thank Jane for this wonderful story within a story. And I want to meet Piper!
A Reading Fairy Godmother—books open hearts
June 29, 2014
“ Summer Reading for Parents” (WSJ) addresses the challenges parents face in choosing the right book for their child but I see more confusion ahead with the publishing industry’s attempt to label books, hoping to inform parents to make better-informed choices. Here are some simple guidelines to follow. A just right book pairs a child […]
Fathers reading to their chidren
June 15, 2014
While reading an article about how fatherhood informs a writer’s life, I found myself imagining my ideal father. My ideal father would not necessarily have to be capable of writing stories such as The Real Thief and T.H. White’s, The Once and Future King who created Merlin, my dream father, but he would be my […]
Summer Reading
June 4, 2014
According to Chartbeat, 55% of visitors spend fewer than 15 seconds on a website. This statistic has me thinking about what it takes to absorb an idea— 15 seconds is not even enough time to stretch out a muscle let alone ponder and reflect on an idea. Concentration and mindfulness are in short supply when we […]
Mothers and the Grandmother Hypothesis
May 10, 2014
Last year my Mother’s day Musing was “ All children should be so lucky—to have a mom that leads the way— Make Way For Ducklings, lives on!” That pretty much sums it up but here are a few more additions to what we might consider when pondering feelings embedded in what being a good mother might […]
