Living Books.....

We have been reading Henry and Ribsy over the past few weeks. It is the first fiction written by Beverly Cleary. We have really enjoyed it and are on the last chapter where Ribsy's previous owner appears. When Andrew realized what was happening there was a large 'gasp.' OH NO!!! What would happen??? I had to read ahead or he said he wouldn't finish the book!

I am not sure I can catagorize Henry as Ribsy as a 'living book' but I contrast it with a biography of Beverly Cleary that we picked up at the library a few weeks ago. It was on the end cap at the library and thought - gee.... what a great find. Well... we were reading that today and Andrew says, "This is boring!" And it is! It is your typical 'textbook format' that tells where she is born...bla bla bla... where she grew up.. bla bla bla... when she became a writer... bla bla bla.... I contrast that with Leif the Lucky that was RICH with language and adventure. Both biographies but quite different in their execution. (We are suppose to read Marie Curie's biography this week as well. I purchased it but am not looking forward to reading it.)

Back to Henry and Ribsy; It may not be a living book but it is fun and Andrew loves to 'play act' the parts in the book. We have been taking Ribsy on walks in the afternoon. And today we saw this statue on someone's front porch. Andrew pointed out it looked just like Henry and Ribsy! Even if it isn't a 'living book' it achieved the objective of increasing our interacting and sharing---which is what the purpose of any book really 'should' be.