Book It

"I have nothing to read." my son says while standing in front of his bookcase. My wife and I want him to continue his book a month school assignment he had through the summer. I stand next to him, browsing his choices and agree with him. Most of the books are beneath  his grade level. I start pulling books off the shelf and stack them on the floor, the donation pile. I look at the pile and say "Get your shoes on, we are going to the book store." After a ten minute drive we arrive at Borders. We make out way over to the kids section and scan the racks. We immediately rule out half the section, baby and picture books. We rule out another quarter, young adult love and vampire themed literature. That leaves us one quarter of random selections. 


There seems to be a tremendous amount of books geared for girl readers. My son does not like mystery stories, which rule out popular titles like The Hardy Boys. Take out 39 Steps, Narnia, and Harry Potter, and the pickings are slim, mostly sport books, biographies, and classics. 


My son first picks up The Lightning Thief, a popular book with his classmates. He became intrigued by the synopsis so that became book one. He likes action books so when he spotted Stormbreaker-Alex Rider Adventures, and that became book two.


I wanted one of the books to be a classic. I looked around on the shelves, seeking the right combination of action, storytelling and pages. Then it caught my eye, a period piece for the ages. I show my son the cover and he agrees. The Adventures of Robin Hood becomes book three.


We pay for the books and head home. My son shows my wife the selections, showers and gets into bed. A half hour after my son went to bed, I notice light peaking out from under his door. I slowly crack it open and see him, sprawled out on the bed, engaged in one of the books. He hears the door and looks back at me and holds up the book. "I am just starting chapter three!" I tell him that's great and close the door. I recall memories of my first time reading a great book, how exciting it is to live in the storytelling and care about the characters.


I think I will read each book when he is finished...