Our Rookie Reader Adventure Club at the libary is reading "The Spiderwick Chronicles" by Toni DiTerlizzi. We are a group of kindergarteners, first and second graders and having a good time using our imagination. Each has a made a field guide and we add tidbits of research to it each week. We learned a new word this week, infestation! When asked if anyone knew what infestation meant, one little boy commented, "no, but it sure doesn't sound too good." We soon discovered it indeed didn't sound too good when creatures over run an area, cause trouble and disrupt things.
After learning our new word, we went on a field trip throughout the library, looking for fairy, brownie or boggart infestation. We found signs of trouble everywhere! We interviewed our library director who admitted to wondering if we had an infestation. Kids asked questions that were not on our check list. They discovered the tiniest marks on the walls, holes I'd never noticed before and vents bent, ceilings panels mysteriously loosened, and a dozen other conspicuous oddities that have me convinced we have a serious fairy infestation at the Earlville Public Library. We all agreed we don't want to upset them and we will continue on as if they aren't there. No sense borrowing trouble if we don't need to!
So why am I telling you about our Rookie Readers Adventure Club? Because I was inspired by their imagination! As adults, we sometimes struggle kick-starting our brains into thinking of new ideas. Our imagination hides from us and we wonder why we can't find a solution to a plot, or can't start a new project. My best advice after touring our library with our rookie readers, is let the little kid in you come out and play, get into trouble and cause a little havoc! It's great fun!
Beware ~ you may fall victim to an infestation of crazy ideas! Or rather, your imagaination may take you places you never dreamed of going.
Til next time ~
DL Larson
Yes, if you don't try to come out and play, you're missing a lot of fun!
Morgan Mandel