A few days ago, Mark and I went to the library to talk to the librarian about finding some new books Chance might like.
He is highly visual so enjoys books that either draw out pictures with words or provide visual cues for the words. He has read nearly all of the 60+ (perhaps there are more) Magic Treehouse books, which unite non-fiction with a fictional adventure. We’ve tried many others, and other than the Bailey School Kids books, we’ve had quite the time trying to find books that hit on all points for him.
We ended up at the library with two librarians who were filling in over in the children’s section. The experience truly was like talking to myself as they asked about various books they loved as children, and most were on my favorites list. Mark stood there not understanding a thing about what we were talking about since he has never read a book – ever. Yes, you read that correctly. Not in college. Not in junior or high school. He didn’t even read mine; I read it to him.
As we stood there going through the various options, I felt drawn to this little book on the shelf behind the librarian. The book, 43 Old Cemetery Road: Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise. I picked it up and decided to check it out.
On the way home, I started reading it to Mark. We cracked up at the jokes (for example, the realtor’s name is Anita Sale (I need a sale) and her last name is signed with an $). We walked in saying how funny the book is and that we thought he would like it because it is beautifully and cleverly illustrated, too.
The next day, Chance reads about 10 pages and he says, “I don’t get it.” I figured maybe he doesn’t know the play on words that makes it so charming and crafty, and I tell him we’ll read it together so I can share what is so funny.
That night, he grabs the book and says, “I’m going to give this to Nana and see if she ‘gets’ it!”
This morning, he walks in my office and says, “Nana said it is cute. But she didn’t say it is funny.”
I said, “Well, maybe it was funny to us because we remember that type of humor from when we were kids.”
And then he says, “Oh, I get it. At 40, it’s funny. At 60, it’s cute. And, at 30, you just don’t get it.”
And I said, “Since when are you 30?”
LOL I cracked up and was laughing so hard because for years we have said (not to him directly) that Chance is 7, 8 or 9 going on 30.
Apparently he thinks so, too!
