A Good Story Can…

pass time,
open doors,
shift paradigms,
introduce unforgettable characters,
temporarily chase away stress and sadness,
hold the imaginations of three small children during a long car ride to and from school.

For the last two weeks, mornings have been a bit brutal—waking the kids at 6 to leave at 7 and arrive sometime before 8 (when school begins). It’s a 45-minute commute to school from the apartment (as we count down to the closing on our new house).

Our family grew accustomed to long walks and stroller rides during our time in Frankfurt’s Westend (when we opted not to have a car). However the kids are not used to long car rides. Long plane rides? Yes. Car rides? No.

We usually do a lot of singing, seat-dancing, and I-spying to pass the time in the car. In preparation for school, however, I decided to buy a few children’s audiobooks for the 30-45 minute drive.

While we have been reading to the kids since they were tiny (we’re currently reading Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden), I wasn’t sure how the audiobooks would be received.

They were a hit!

We began with a set of Dr. Seuss stories, and we’re now nearly finished with E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. This version has White reading his book, and although I’ve read Charlotte’s Web countless times, I think I’m enjoying the audiobook as much as the kids (especially my oldest).

I am surprised at how difficult it is to track down kids’ audiobooks. Does anyone else listen to kids’ books on cd?

We have a few more weeks until we close and move in to the new house. Any audiobook suggestions?

One Book

"Walden is the only book I own, although there are some others unclaimed on my shelves. Every man, I think, reads one book in his life, and this one is mine. It is not the best book I ever encountered, perhaps, but it is for me the handiest, and I keep it about me in much the same way one carries a handkerchief – for relief in moments of defluxion or despair." (White in The New Yorker, May 23, 1953)

A friend recently invited me to be interviewed on a new literary site (info to come later). He asked me a bunch of questions about reading and writing. When thinking about the answers, I wanted to look back at books I own, but I couldn’t find many of them. Right now my books are scattered around the world, and I feel slightly unsettled because of this.

Some of my books are en route from Germany. Others are in the Oak Park Apartment, while others are in boxes soon to be placed into storage. I don’t like having them in three different places.

This got me thinking about beloved books and the above White quotation.

So I wonder, what’s your "one book"?

Protected: Change of plans

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: