Book Review: Peter Pan

When I see my sister's sidebar, I often get discouraged about the amount of reading I do.  However, I must remind myself that I do a huge amount of reading as a part of my job.  And--lucky me-- most of it is in the form of children's literature.  This is one of my absolute favorite parts of my profession.

I make it a point to read to my students for (at least) 20 minutes every day for pure enjoyment.  This snapshot of time, the read-aloud/listen exchange, is an enormous benefit to both me and my students.

Today, we finished Peter Pan.  I had never previously read this beautiful story, and many of my students' impressions had been diluted by the Disney movie.  (Nothing against that show!  I love it).  But the book is amazing in how it takes childhood and pretend and the concept of mothers and presents them as everything good in the world, while likewise looking at time- like the tick-toc crocodile- and the negative connotations of being grown-up, and personifying them in the dastardly Captain Hook. We read an adapted "kid version," but I am looking forward to cracking open the original by J.M. Barrie and being enchanted by the language and the characterization again.

read it.  I know you'll love it.