Of Books and Growing Up...

It was yesterday morning in the showers when I just had a mental thought of writing children's books. Not that my writing is worth a mention but it's just that when writing books for that particular age range, the possibilities can go from one major extreme to another; absolutely endless! Look how J.K R0wling made a mounting fortune by not only targetting children as her readers but adults yang tua bangka as well. Of course, not that I'm anywhere near that.

Then I also wondered why parents don't read storybooks to their kids anymore. Is it a thing of the past? I remember in school, library was a 'subject' I looked forward to. We'd all be gathered sitting cross-legged in the middle of the library impatiently waiting for the librarian to read us a story. As soon as she finished reading, she'd wave the book in the air and a row of hands would shoot up followed by synchronized repeated "Me, me, me!!!". Why? To borrow the book of course!

I'm not sure if any of you girls out there have heard or read any of the The American Girls Collection (Samantha, Felicity, Kirsten, Molly etc.) by Valer1e Tripp. When I became a fan, there were only a few girls in the collection and one of the girls in my school who's a year my senior was actually niece to the writer. I still remember her name, Elizab3th Keller-Tr1pp. So when the first batch of books came, a bunch of us went crazy as to who'd get to borrow the brand new books. Those were good times. We even went on library excursions where I fell more and more in love with books.

from http://curtdanhauser.com/AG_Collecting/Gallery.html

from http://www.amazon.com

Oke you've obviously noticed that I got sidetracked. What I'm saying is that because our education system does not promote 'Library' as a class and students tend to take reading for granted, parents should really instill the love of reading in children at young age. Our education system especially in primary and secondary schools do not promote teacher-student communication whereby open discussions and opinions of students matter. This alternatively reflects in tertiary levels where our students are considered passive. Our students are not spoonfed in school levels, they are just not given the opportunity and freedom of voice by most teachers. And because it has always been a one-way communication thing, I believe that's where the spoonfeeding term came about. No offense to teachers out there but this is reality. It's the system I grew up with.

So... lack of reading, no intellectual stimulating discussions which in turn impedes the growth of creative individuals; where does that leave us?

While I'm at it, does anyone know where I can get the whole collection of 'The Little House on The Prairie'?