E and F: Elementary Years and Frog and Toad

E is Elementary Years. I can't remember a lot of specific details of my time spent in elementary school, but I still wanted to talk about that time period because I read a lot of books that I'm still fond of today.  I didn't have a "love" for reading back then like I do now. It more of a required activity, although I still enjoyed it.

I can remember reading books like The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brien.  These books were on the Accelerated Reader list at my school. This was a reading program that had ten question tests per a book from a list of accepted books. Throughout most of elementary school we had to have a certain amount of points earned by the end of the year. Therefore, it wasn't required reading in that books were chosen for us. We had the ability to chose what we wanted to read; it just had to come from the school's list.

Looking back on my experience with the AR program, I'm not a very strong advocate of it. I know some schools that still use it and some teachers that still love it, but I think the experience of actually reading a book and discussing the big picture items is more important than describing the "color of Johnny's hat in Chapter 7." Luckily for me, the test never got in my way of enjoying the reading. I know I stated earlier in this post that I didn't "love" reading back then like I do know, but you have to realize how much I love reading now. Therefore, I really did thoroughly enjoy it back then.  Looking at the books that I can remember reading, it is clear that I loved adventure and imagination. I liked books that were going to take me away into different worlds while experiencing various activities I had never taken part in before. I think it is safe to say that this aspect of my reading life is still alive today.

F is for Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel.  Frog and Toad is a book series that I can remember reading as a toddler and during the early years of elementary school. I always seemed to have a love for books about animals who acted like people when I was little; I even wrote an award-winning book about a mouse named Whiskey in the first grade (Children's author/illustrator Jan Wahl awarded me with having the best book in my county). Frog and Toad were such unique characters because they were absolutely true friends. These books taught me the meaning of friendship and what it means to be there for someone else.

Remembering this from childhood, this book came up again recently.  Someone compared my best friend Michael and myself to Frog and Toad. I was Frog and he was Toad, and we ran with it. We started calling ourselves by our respective names, we got pictures with life-size frogs at the famous Frog Pond during our Boston trip, and my sister even got us the books for Christmas. Connecting this book to memories of my childhood as well as to the present day earns it a spot on this list. I hope to have the chance to read this books to my children someday because everyone deserves to know what it means to be a friend.