So anyway. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. Hard to believe one can reach my age without having read this, huh? But true nonetheless. And what did I think? Well, I hate admitting, but I didn't fall madly in love with this story. I read this aloud to the kiddos, and that may have been part of the problem. Now that sounds simply awful, doesn't it? It's not that I don't enjoy reading aloud to them, I swear...I, of course, love our reading time. But this book simply wasn't an easy book to read aloud. I had a hard time with the flow. Which I'm sure wouldn't have been a problem if I'd been reading it silently to myself. On top of that, there were a lot of "big words" for the little guys. Some pages, they would interrupt as many as three or four times to ask what a word meant. I'm glad they want to learn some new vocabulary, of course, but whew...can that make for some loooong reading sessions just trying to get through a chapter or two.
This book also led to some interesting discussions. Particularly because of the less than flattering, stereotypical images of "redskins". I hate reading things like this in books and I hate even more having the kids exposed to them. But it's so much better encountering them together so we have a chance to talk about them. You know, those real life teaching moments.
I, of course, am a grown-up. And as everyone who knows anything about Peter Pan, that is not a good thing. So, my opinion of this book isn't the opinion that really matters, is it? From the mouths of the youngsters when asked what they thought:
Annie: I really loved it!
Gray: It was okay. Sometimes it was hard to understand.
Annie: I didn't think it was hard. I just thought it was a great story.
Max: I thought it was good. I'd give it a five if we were rating it. (We use a 5 point rating system with picture books.)
Gray: No, not a five, but it was pretty good.
So there you have it...the munchkins seem to think it was quite a worthwhile read.
*****
If you have also reviewed this book, please leave me a link in the comments and I'll add it here. Thanks.
*****
Read for:
Celebrate the Author Challenge.
Initials Reading Challenge.
A-Z Reading Challenge.
Decades Challenge '08.
Read-aloud.
