Igniting the Joy of Reading Challenge
Day 2 of 5
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
Dr Seuss, I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!
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Today we begin our four day/five minutes a day Joy of Reading challenge.
Here’s an excerpt from this week’s Wonder of Parenting Podcast: A Brain-Science Approach to Parenting, which is devoted to the joy of reading. This clip looks at the impact reading has on the brain (with my good friend, Dr. Michael Gurian).
What will you read today? Perhaps it will be a picture book. Or a short chapter book. Or a magazine article. Or you might start that novel that’s been sitting on the shelf for months.
For those of you unsure as to what to read—especially with those 8-14 year olds, I’m going to include a short daily excerpt from I.C.E. Call Toby Baxter—the Prequel to Book 1 in The Adventures of Toby Baxter.
So give your brain a joy-boost today and read!
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I.C.E. Call Toby Baxter—Book 1 Prequel
Deckor was running down the field yelling wildly and waving his hands.
“I’m open! I’m open! Get me the ball!”
His sister, Clovor, saw him and booted the fat-looking football high into the air. A crowd of opposing players crowded around him to stop him from catching it.
Deckor watched. He waited. His eyes firmly on the ball. And at just the right moment he ran forward a few steps, planted his knee into the back of one of the opposing players, and leapt… or is it leaped?… or is it either leaped or leapt?… and why was he thinking about the correct use of leap at this very moment?... as high as he could into the air. He grabbed the ball, in flight, and hung onto it as he hit the ground. Hard. A Mark!
The players gave him space as he lined himself up for a kick at the goal. In front of him, seemingly miles away, stood four goal posts. Two large ones with a smaller one on either side. He put the ball down on the ground so that he could pull up his socks. He threw a few bits of grass into the air to check the wind direction. As he did so, the siren sounded. Game over. If he makes this goal, his team wins. If he misses… well…
He looked up into the sky and whispered, “This one’s for you, Dad.”
Deckor’s mom and dad lost their lives in the war against the trolls years ago. Even though his brother, Phoenix, had gone to retrieve the Hero, their trip back to RiverHome had been delayed. They didn’t make it back in time to prevent the deaths of his parents. Eventually, with the help of the Hero, the River Elves won the war, but the cost was high. Too high for many families like his.
Deckor, his big sister Clovor, and Phoenix, had lived with Grandpa and Grandma ever since. As had their cousins, Judah and Mathilda, whose parents had also died in the Troll War.
Now word had come, from their friends the gnomes, that troll patrols had been seen on the wrong side of the negotiated border. Troll drones were reported flying overhead just miles from the River Glaedaan. Rumors about Clygon, the tribal chief of the trolls, and his plans for a new attack on the River Elves, had been passed along by an ogre. The ogre had stopped to buy supplies for his Traveling Ogres Circus. That in itself had alerted the elves to the danger. The ogres had long refused any contact with the River Elves due to an “incident” years ago, when the Ogres Circus had last come to RiverHome. That an ogre would set foot in RiverHome meant that the River Elves needed to take the rumors about the trolls seriously.
Trolls! After all these years. Years of trying to come to terms with the devastation of the last war.
“Hey, mate,” Judah said in his best Australian accent. “What’s the hold up? Kick the goal and win this game! I’m hungry.”
Deckor shook his head to get back into the moment. He took aim at the goal and started to slowly run toward it. Half the crowd roared its encouragement while the other half booed. Ever since Judah “had gone over” to Australia, Australian Rules Football, or Footie, had become a River Elf favorite. Although Phoenix would beg to differ, claiming American-style Football was better and more popular.
Gaining momentum, Deckor dropped the ball in front of him and kicked a ripper! The ball sailed high into the sky. But from the start it looked as if the ball would completely miss the goal. Until Deckor worked his magic. The ball suddenly bent… or is it bended?… or is it either bent or bended?... and again, why was he thinking about grammar at a moment like this?… toward the two towering middle goals and… and… and… went straight through! Goal! Six points! Deckor had kicked the game winner!
His teammates, including his siblings and cousins, surrounded him and patted him on the back, shoulder, butt, or anywhere they could reach. Half the crowd stood to their feet, cheering. The other half headed dejectedly for home.
In the meantime, the team made their way to the bench to grab their clothes.
Reaching into his sports bag, Phoenix pulled out a green jersey with white and gold trim on the sleeves. A big number 12 featured on the front and the back, with the name “Rogers” printed on the back shoulders of the shirt.
“How many different American Football jerseys do you have?” Judah asked, the Australian accent gone now that the game was over.
“How many times have I been over there?” Phoenix asked. He started counting on his fingers when Mathilda interrupted him.
“And who is Rogers?”
“What? You don’t know about Aaron Rogers? He’s one of the all-time great quarterbacks in American Football. He hasn’t always been on the best of teams but he’s still won one Super…”
Suddenly Phoenix put his hands over his mouth and looked around as if the sky was going to fall onto his head.
“Come on, Phoenix, how many times do we have to tell you that you’re not going to get into trouble for saying Superb…”
Phoenix slapped his hand over Deckor’s mouth. “We can’t take the chance. Two words: Law Suit.”
“Seriously? They’re going to sue us here in RiverHome? They don’t even know we exist,” said Deckor.
“Isn’t lawsuit one word?” Mathilda asked.
Just as the debate over law suit and lawsuit was heating up the blast of a horn cut through the air.
To be continued…