From: Boagjohns_at_aol.com
Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:25:54 -0400 (EDT)

Hi, all

Once on trip from the West Coast to the East Coast of South Florida I read to the driver Sharon Creech's Love That Dog. There was a very looong period of silence after the collision between the "that dog" and the blue car. It is a memory the driver and I (both dog lovers) still share.

I love to read poetry. I often introduce listeners to the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. Too often he is thought of as only writing in dialect. Ashley Bryan has compiled an anthology, I Greet the Dawn -a showcase of Dunbar's pieces in standard English. Before I read any of Dunbar's dialect works, I always read one in standard English - usually one entitled "Dawn " Then I share such favorites as "In da' Monrin'" or "Encouragement"

For book talks, the read aloud portion with it's "cliff hanger" ending is quite popular, for instance in Llorente's award winning The Apprentice : "I took another deep breath and turned to examine the wall next to the door. Something near the floor ...moved in the darkness ...I touched it...It was heavy,like a tapestry, but why was it moving ..."moving?....

Henrietta M. Smith
Received on Mon 04 Apr 2011 11:25:54 AM CDT