My Love/Hate Relationship With Dav Pilkey

While my first born, my son, was growing nice and chunky inside of me, I read to him. I sang him songs, I talked with him but mostly I read. I dreamed of the day I would introduce him to Harry Potter. I fantasied about sharing my greatest treasures-books-with him.

Spoiler Alert: Life doesn't always go according to plan.

My son loves to be read to, he really does. Reading by himself, well that is another story. I grew up devouring books on a daily basis. I still remember one devastating summer day when the librarian told me I could only check out 10 books at a time and I had to decide which 10 books to keep and which 10 books to put back from my pile (I was in sixth grade). When I needed consequences for my actions, my parents took away reading. I used to get in trouble in school for reading while the teacher was talking. These are not exaggerations, it was just my life. I always assumed my son (and later daughters) would be just like me, especially if I read to them before they were able to do so themselves. After all, don't the experts say the best way to raise a reader is to read to them? (Or some crap like that)

Unfortunately, my son is not an enthusiastic reader. Granted, he is only in second grade but reading already seems tedious to him. The problem is school. I completely understand elementary schools/teachers pushing reading, wanting students (especially the young ones) to read daily. The problem is making it homework, making it an obligation. Forcing students to read does not make them like reading, if anything it has the opposite affect. Forcing students to read a certain amount and/or a certain amount of time makes reading seem like a task, a chore. My son was not enjoying these nightly reading sessions, no one was, so when he finally found a book series that he liked, I was thrilled. He was so excited when I put it on hold at the library and it came in. Yay! I was about to start winning the battle! Then...I read the book.

If you haven't heard of Captain Underpants then you probably do not know a child in elementary school. It is a comic book style story that revolves around two young boys, Harold and George, who write a comic book called Captain Underpants. One day, Harold and George accidentally turn their no nonsense, no fun principal into their comic book hero and hilarity ensues. The whole premise does not sound that bad, right? The issue I have with this book, with every Captain Underpants book (there are 12 of them) is the language used. No, there isn't swearing but rather inappropriate grammar. Yes, these books use words like "ain't" and sentences such as "I seen him". What is the point of having my son read these books if it is only going to worsen his grammar and spelling? Dav Pilkey, the auther of these stories, also has series that include: Dog Man, Super Diaper Babies, Dumb Bunnies and Ricky Ricotta and his Mighty Robot. The only series out of those that uses proper grammar and sentence structure is the last one (which, actually, I highly recommend for ages 5-8). It actually makes me cringe and throw up in my mouth a little bit every time my son wants to read a Captain Underpants or Dog Man book. I cannot stand them. Not even a little bit. My son, though, my son ADORES them. He loves them. He cannot get enough of them. He ignores the rest of the world when he enters Pilkey's universe. How can I deny him the only books he actually enjoys?

The thing is, I can't. I cannot in good faith discourage him from reading Pilkey. The content is age appropriate and he loves them. What I need to do is slowly switch him from "bad" Pilkey to "good" Pilkey (aka Ricky Ricotta) then gradually introduce him to other books. It will be a process but one that I am hoping will pay off.

Maybe one day we will read Harry Potter together. In the meantime, here's to toilets that throw up? Ugh.

Doomsday Book is a Must Read

My favorite college professor (a history teacher) told me his favorite book is Connie Willis's Doomsday Book. Of course, I immediately went to the library to check it out. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read it within the three week check out period. The combination of the holiday season and three young children wasn't conducive to reading so I went to Barnes & Noble to purchase it. I am thrilled I did, too, as the book has quickly become one of my favorites. If I hadn't bought it before reading it, I definitely would have afterwards in order to lend it out and read it often.

Doomsday Book has the best elements of a good story: time travel, history, mystery, and great writing. Willis is an excellent writer, creating characters with depth that readers can easily get invested in and relate to. Technically, the story is Science-Fiction but do not let that deter you. It isn't the stereotypical sci-fi most people think of (ones with mythical creatures or aliens) but rather it takes place in the future (2050s) and the past (1300s) as history student Kivrin travels back in time to study life in the fourteenth century. Things do not go as planned for Kivrin and a they begin to unravel in the present as well.

Willis's book entraps the reader with her characters who prove that humankind's ability to triumph over and tenacity know no time period.  I recommend Doomsday Book to any reader who enjoys mystery, adventure, history, or good books. Read it and let me know what you think in the comments. If you enjoy it (which you should!), make sure to read Blackout which features some of the same characters as Doomsday.

Happy Reading!