Well, it’s almost midnight on the last day of #kidlitwomen’s month of posts, and if you’ve been following this event, then throughout March you’ve been reading the words a host of women who are much wiser than I, tackling issues without easy answers and discussing solutions.
I started literally ten separate posts, but none of them worked, possibly because most of the things I most wanted to talk about had already been covered by the aforementioned much wiser people than I.
But today I worked my usual Saturday shift at my bookstore, and I had a couple of interactions where I had to work around that noxious boy book/girl book thing. (Shannon Hale’s post on this subject from March 1st is absolutely fantastic.) This happens almost every weekend. I do my best to counteract it customer by customer. Then I come home and do what I can to make sure I’m raising a boy who values stories about girls just as much as stories about boys. Here was my home turf action item for today.
Dear Griffin,
I know you have not been totally excited about the new jobs chart we made for you. You’ll just have to take my word for it that there’s a good reason you have to clear your place and feed the dogs. As a sort of compromise, I’m letting you have an extra gummy bear with your vitamins before bed.
Also, we added an extra job to your list. You have to read a book every night before bed to your baby sister.
The choice of book is entirely up to you. I’d prefer you chose something narrative and not the Lionel train catalog, but if you make up a story about the trains and don’t just use it as an opportunity to tell Tess which ones you want for your birthday, I’ll let it slide.
However, you have some favorite books that I think would be really great to share with her. Here are some thoughts to help you pick what to read to her tonight.
THE FRIEND SHIP. Because you are Tess’s first and best friend. And because as the two of you sail out into the world, following whatever squirrelly maps you find, you’ll be okay as long as you have each other.
MISS RUMPHIUS. You’ve been able to recite most of this book since you were three, and last summer you went around pointing out all the flowers in Brooklyn that you thought looked like lupines. I can’t wait to see how you will choose to make the world more beautiful.
BABY LOVES QUARKS. Because if Tess is anything like you, she’s going to be super excited about learning about how the world works. She’s going to have lots of questions, and she might ask you before she asks your dad and me. Don’t forget it’s okay to tell her you don’t know. Then the two of you can work together to find out the answer.
ADA TWIST, SCIENTIST. Because you’ll have to teach her how to Science before the two of you skip off into the sunset to find those answers.
THE PRINCESS IN BLACK. Because superheroes are awesome and beasts need help behaving. Somedays you’re the princess, some days you’re the monster. Just please explain to her that really toenail clippings are not for eating, because you know how she tries to eat everything.
MERCY WATSON. Get her started on these now, so we can read her WHERE ARE YOU GOING, BABY LINCOLN as soon as humanly possible. You and I have sat up late plenty of nights reading about how Baby struck out on her own to go on a necessary journey. Tess, like you, will need to know how to recognize when it’s time to go on one for herself.
EXTRA YARN.
Annabelle finds something that turns out to be miraculous when she shares it with her family and her community. I’ll even give you a ball of yarn, so you can show Tess how to “knit.” Just remember cleaning up is also on your job chart.
THE MOST MAGNIFICENT THING. Because you know how you love to build? Tess is going to need to learn what you’re already figuring out–that not everything turns out perfectly the first time.
WHEN GREEN BECOMES TOMATOES. Sometimes a handful of small, sweet, shiny gems are the exactly-right bedtime treats.
SWAN. Because both of you love to dance, and because only very special and beautiful books really work best when you dance while you read them.
I hope this is the one job on your chart that you look forward to every night, and I hope you read Tess every single book you love. Help her find the stories she loves, when she’s old enough to tell you what they are. I hope you’ll keep reading together, about girls and boys and frogs and toads and planets and trains and Pooh and Piglet, and I hope you talk with her about the stories you read, just like we talk to you. I hope that when she tells you stories, you help her understand that her tales, just like the ones you read together, are important and valuable, and not just to her. To you. To the world.
(Note that I’m not putting all of that on your job chart; you can read her one book and be done. Sometimes she’s super wiggly. She might not sit for a serious discussion.)
Also remember she’s going to try and chew whatever you pick, so be prepared.
Love,
Mommy
