The best dollar I have spent in a long time

At Serenity, Scholastic book order time is serious business. Patrick and I agree upon a dollar amount to spend and begin the book ordering negotiations. I love books so it is exciting for me to see Patrick seriously considering how he will spend his $5, $20, or $39 (depending on what point I am trying to prove).

The last round of orders needed a bit more restraint. Patrick ordered every movie and cartoon book offered by Scholastic. Fortunately, I haven't been tortured with the tales of Kung Fu Panda (sorry Mom) because I am too busy reading the book I ordered for Keith....for a dollar. CORDUROY

In case you don't remember the story of Corduroy (1968).... Corduroy is a bear who lives in a department store. Nobody wants to buy him because he is missing a button. Lucky bear, Lisa comes to buy him anyway. She takes him home and fixes his button.

We have pretty much read our dollars worth and then some. I estimate that we are currently clocking in at 5 cents per reading. Patrick really enjoys a book with a storyline these days. Keith appreciates my accents (for Corduroy). I am glad it isn't the Transformers story. So we read it every night, some nights twice and the boys are rapt.

I suspect the concept of a bear who talks/thinks, rides the escalator and hopes some little girl will take him home is compelling for my imaginative four-year old. It is still kind of compelling to me.

Our nightly reading habit is the perfect end to almost everyday. Now Patrick wants to read Charlotte's Web. I don't know if he is ready for a chapter book but maybe we'll give it a shot in a couple of months.