Léna is also a Regional Manager for Writopia Lab whose mission is to foster joy, literacy, and critical thinking in kids and teens from all backgrounds through creative writing.

"Well, the question is, what do you want to believe? Do you want to live in a world where things are possible, or in one where they aren't?" Cin, Edges.

Monday, August 23, 2010

My name is Léna, and I'm a Harry Potter Geek

P Harry PotterImage via Wikipedia
What a joy it was to come home after a long day trekking around Westchester with my Traveling Writopia Lounge and have my kids beg for me to read the fifth chapter of Harry Potter to them.

We had a severe rainstorm in our area yesterday, complete with a power outage. It was only a matter of time before the story about The Boy Who Lived beckoned. My youngest is the only one who hasn't been indoctrinated into the family's Harry Potter geekdom.

"It's high time," my oldest said. As the youngest, my girl has had the privilege of all of us reading picture books aloud to her all of the time, but she has not been included in the family read-aloud as she has been too young for the likes of Rick Riordan and JRR Tolkein. "Mom, come on, she's going into kindergarten. She's ready."

Well, I don't know about that, but I do know that the boys want to share their love of Harry Potter with her - and they also want her to be able to ooh and ahh when we visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios next winter.

She is definitely ready for the warmth and nurturing of spending time with the family this way. (We'll see how I feel when it gets to the more intense You-Know-Who parts. We'll also see if it holds her interest.) We all climb into bed and snuggle up together for my dreadful attempts at different cultural, regional and socio-economic English accents. (The kids are most forgiving.)

This will be my fourth time reading The Sorcerer's Stone, and my second time reading it aloud. I've been hooked on Harry since the book came out in 1998 - I had to pre-order each consecutive one and devour immediately. I couldn't wait to share it with my kids. Come to think of it, Cooper was in kindergarten when I first read it aloud to him. Some of his friends had seen the movie, but he definitely wasn't ready for that. AND we have a rule about having the literary experience first, since film is such a different way of telling a story.

I think I'll hold off on The Hunger Games as a read-aloud, even though I have of course, pre-ordered Mockingjay!
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7 comments:

  1. Ooh, I love Harry Potter. I've read the whole series countless times.

    http://ficklecattle.blogspot.com/

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  2. Merci, Monsieur Fickle! Thanks so much for introducing yourself as a fellow lover of HP!

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  3. I SO miss the days when we were all counting down to the next Harry Potter book...

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  4. Lena, I just read a story about the time you got hit by a car as a little girl and your family read to you to keep away the pain in Walking on Water. While I'm so sorry that you had such dreadful pain, the image of your family reading the pain away with story after story touched me. It seemed it would be such a sweet time of bonding amidst pain and story that would be unparalleled. Do you remember that time in the hospital?

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  5. Hi Cora! Yes, it is one of my most vibrant memories, having the comfort of being read aloud to, especially books that already felt like home to me! (My grandmother's!)

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  6. My mom read us "Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" when Shane, my little brother, was four or five. I think she's ready for Potter :) Let us know if she's another fan yet!! XD

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  7. Yes Jennifer, she has become a HUGE fan! We have just finished #2, The Chamber of Secrets!

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