Shunning the frumious Bandersnatch!

A few weeks ago we drove (very late at night) to North Carolina for Seth and Carrie's Baby shower (they're having a CHUD) and as we drove Matthew was looking for something to keep him entertained. So, he asked if we could listen to the "Chronic-WHAT-les of Narnia" (a christmas gift of the books on tape from last year). This was funny because we haven't listened to those tapes in over a year, but any time we go on a long road trip he asks for them.

I tried to explain to him that we forgot them, but that doesn't slake the thirst of a 5 year old desperate for something to do, so I asked if he remembered where in the story we were last time, He said something about a Dragon, and so I started to pick up the story from where we left off (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and I explained to him all about Eustace and how he became a Dragon because he was greedy like a Dragon. This seemed to pacify him...for about 5 seconds and then he asked me to tell him another story, but this one he wanted to be about outer space.

So I quickly told him the "Tripod" stories (written by John Christopher) that I'd read when I was younger, and I'd just recently read again over the Christmas holiday while we were in Denver. I was SURE this would satisfy him, since it was now about 10:30 at night
but NO, he wanted another Space story (thanks to having just watched Zathura he had Space on the brain). Sadly my brain froze and I tried thinking of any of the hundreds of SciFi books that I'd read, and how I could adapt them to tell him. I came up with zilch.

The only thing I could do was backpedal and try to get him talking about Dragons again, and I steered the conversation back that way. As we were talking I remember the Hobbit, and Smaug, so I asked if he remembered the Story of the Hobbit , because we'd watched the Rankin & Bass version once, but he didn't. So I started telling him the story as best as I could recall. He eventually fell asleep and I was granted a reprieve from storytelling.


The next day, as we were driving around Greensboro MattyPoof started asking for me to tell him the story of the Hobbit again. I dodged doing so, because I was tired, but told him I would "Later"

"Later," like the day of reckoning, came as we drove back to Florida. Matthew again wanted to hear the story, so I told him, as best as I could remember, again the tale of Bilbo Baggins. After I finished he wanted it again (Yes, HE FIXATES, see Sarah's post about Peter Pan). I told him that I had the book at home, and asked if he wanted to start reading it with me at night before bed. He seemed pretty excited to do so, and So pretty much every night for the past two weeks, after we read the Scriptures, we read the Hobbit.

I have to say that it's a Lot of fun, more for me than Matthew, but he is listening, and asking questions, and slowly putting things together. Tonight we read chapter IV (yes, we're slow) where the Dwarves and Hobbit are captured by the Goblins and Gandalf disappears. As I'm reading Matthew says: "Gandalf is gonna rescue them" (which of course he does) and then during the part where the rescue occurs Matthew said "See, I told you"

Another example of this was at the end of the Chapter, I had him read the next chapter heading to me, which is: Riddles in the Dark
I asked him if he remembered any riddles (from when I told him the story in the car) and at first he said "No" but then his eyes lit up, and he scrunched his shoulders down, and said: "Ohhhhh the LAKE! does Bilbo have the Ring yet?"

My Rambling, Incoherent point is this: I like that Matthew is growing up, and is wanting to Read, and is expanding his imagination. In just the past few weeks he's really taken a liking to Reading, and is impressing the heck out of me with how much he's advanced in such a short period of time.