A Book Brought Me to Tears

I knew I should have taken off my mascara before settling in to read last night. I wrote this promptly after reading to my sons and tucking them in. Bird goes to sleep with a book within reach, and Deal goes to sleep surrounded by a menagerie of stuffed friends. These boys of mine are so different from each other. What they share is the love of a tale.

When they were younger they would squeal after story time for Mac Daddy to tell a “home town story.” These are stories Mac Daddy told of his childhood. Whether they were true or fabricated is debatable. On the rare occasions his hopper was empty, I would step in. My stories were never as good because I told only true tales, leaving me very little fodder to share that would be appropriate. Ahem.

Bird and Deal participate in book clubs at school. Bird comes home giving us book suggestions. And so we embark on reading together during the week when there is usually no screen time. We all settle in on the love seat, what I call the “comfy chair,” or in bed. Lark is usually underfoot or plopped next us within arm’s reach of someone. It’s a modern day Norman Rockwell moment, I tell you.

The first such book Bird has recommended as a family read aloud was The One and Only Ivan. Lordy, I loved this book! Katherine Applegate weaves a rich tale about a gorilla named Ivan and his animal mates kept in a mall zoo who are forced to perform circus-like acts for two crowds of popcorn swillers a day. It’s based on a true story, and that makes it cringe-worthy (in all the right ways). This book deservedly won the Newberry Medal, and it will for sure be one we come back to. We inhaled it the first time around (second time for Bird). I imagine we will grant this book a slower pace next time, giving Ivan ample opportunity to speak to us from the page.

Last night’s book, the one that left me weeping, was Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. My friend saw Bird was reading the book a while back and remarked that it was sad. I heard the conversation in the background and hadn’t given it much thought. Bird loved the book and wanted to add it to the family read aloud queue. I so loved the story and found myself easily jumping into a character’s voice as I read. The boys liked this when they were little. Then they grew irritable at my voice interpretations and insisted I read in my regular mom voice. Now they are back to enjoying some theatrics in our read alouds. The inner stage diva in me enjoys this immensely. When I hit the sad bit of the book, I couldn’t go on. I sobbed. I’m talking full on weeping, people. Bird was a champ and never alerted me and Deal when we were getting to the sad part. No spoilers at all, a feat for a 9-year old who has recently read the book. As I read through my tears and sobs, Deal nestled into my shoulder, absent-mindedly stroking my arm. I could feel us all breathing on pace together. I won’t divulge what happens because I really want you to read the book. Let’s just say there were extra kisses at bed time, and I required a puffy eye antidote. If you know me, you know I am stickler for an early bedtime. Last night we stayed up over an hour past bedtime just to finish the book!

I can’t wait to see what’s next on Bird’s playlist.