New story: Fast Fast Fast Slow Slow Slow

A short, sweet read-aloud for July/August; plus lots of links for readers

320 Sycamore Studios believes that reading with kids can change the world for the better. Each month (except for August-ish), we share one original story and one post about the amazing power of books and reading. Everything is completely written by a human.

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Heya, everyone.

I hope you had a good July! I've been working a lot, but was lucky enough to take a recent road trip from my home in Stuttgart over to northwest France, with a stopover in Paris.

After being in Europe a few years, I’ve realized that the thing I miss most about the States (besides my grown kids) is the bookstores. …

… The favorite few, like Powell's, Seattle's Mercer Street Books, Bellingham’s Village Books, Dolly’s in Park City.

… The icons, like The Tattered Cover, City Lights, and The Strand.

… And a couple that I worked at and which now live only in memory — the Book Revue in Huntington, N.Y. (now resurrected as the Next Chapter) and a strip-mall Crown Books in Mission Viejo, California, just down from Saddleback College. Likely I’m the only person who misses that latter one, but I treasured my time there.

Fortunately, Paris isn’t all that far away — three hours by train — and it’s got some amazing English-language bookshops. Shakespeare and Company, of course, and Smith and Son, Galignani, the San Francisco Book Company, and The Abbey.

As abundant as those shops are, I think the Red Wheelbarrow may be my new favorite. The natural light, the book selection, the wood floors, the location across the street from Luxembourg Garden … It all just said Oh, hell yeah to me.

I can’t wait to go back. I hear the city has some other fine attractions as well.

Heh.

Random Reading

I loved Carl Hiaasen's "Flush" (for readers 10+). It's funny, warm, and full of vivid South Florida characters. Apropos of nothing, Hiaasen's books for young readers have some of my all-time favorite cover art.

"Ghost Boys" was another amazing read, though in a much different vein. It's a heartbreaking YA book about the police shooting of a black boy named Jerome. As a ghost, he discovers that the only human he can communicate with is a white girl his age, who just happens to be the daughter of the police officer who shot him. Jewell Parker Rhodes’ novel is wrenching, but somehow, ultimately, hopeful.

Another book that has lingered in my head is M.T. Anderson's "Feed." (Speaking of great cover art.) A National Book Award finalist, "Feed" is a dystopian YA story about a future where most of the world’s population has a version of the Web implanted directly into their brains. Chatting is telepathic and the scroll never ends.

Here’s what Anderson says about Feed on his website:

It is out of the memory of my anger as a teen at the bullying maneuvers of “youth marketing” that I wrote the book – but also out of the knowledge that even now, I’m part of this system of desire. I still can’t get out of my head the images of who I’m supposed to be. (For my current age: the picket fence; the lawn; holding some daughter up toward the sun; strapping my tykes into the SUV.)

But he admits to being captivated by this "system of desire" as well.

I don’t think this would have been an interesting book to write (or to read) if I had only hated the hyper-marketed world I describe. For me, the key to the discomfort is how much I love some of it, how much I still do want to be slick like the people on the tube, beautiful, laughing, surrounded by friends. And how much I legitimately do think that the technology-based information resources at our command now are incredible (things like Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive, instant music and movie downloads, even the much-maligned Wikipedia). These are tools for an amazing new intellectual understanding of the world, though they come with strings attached.

That system of desire.

Those images of who I’m supposed to be.

So true. So timely.

(For what it's worth, I wrestled with some of these ideas in my last post, “Reading with kids is an act of loving resistance against the uncontrolled growth of technology.”)

Great stories about books and reading

The Smithsonian: “To Combat Summer Reading Slumps, This Timeless Children’s Television Show Tried to Bridge the Literacy Gap With the Magic of Stories.”

“In terms of child literacy rates going down, that was really what ‘Reading Rainbow’ was designed in response to, and in particular the ‘summer slide,’ they call it, which is when students are out of school, their literacy levels slide backward,” says Ryan Lintelman, entertainment curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Moonbow: “How to Beat Summer Boredom: Read Picture Books.”

No matter how old your kids are, reading picture books is a great way to beat summer boredom. When my kids (who are 8 and 11) complain there is nothing to do, I take out a stack of our favorite picture books. We love performing the characters and picking our favorite spreads, pointing out things we notice. It’s an opportunity for us to be present and connect over a shared love of stories.

Reasons to be Cheerful: “How Kids Are Learning Empathy at School.”

For years, one class had had “real problems with bullying and damaging relationships,” says teacher Helen Mulligan. Malorie Blackman’s book Cloudbusting, the story of an unlikely friendship between two boys, offered a way to explore relevant issues without making it personal and potentially worsening the situation. The pupils discussed the roles and perspectives of each character — bully, victim, bystander, supporter — and what needed to change.

The Guardian (photo essay): “Indonesia’s stunning microlibraries draw young readers.”

Using passive design and local materials such as ice cream buckets, these modern community spaces offer a respite from urban heat and hustle.

The Marginalian: Beloved Italian Children’s Book Author Gianni Rodari on Creativity and the Key to Great Storytelling.”

Having worked as an elementary school teacher since was only a teenager, having watched his country’s spirit shatter under the fist of fascism, Rodari yearned for a way to unite his passions for philosophy, teaching, and justice. And so he started writing stories, songs, and poems for children, insisting over and over, in subtle and sensitive ways, on the human capacity for independent and imaginative thinking.

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New Story: Fast Fast Fast Slow Slow Slow

When I read this to my wife, she said it sounded like a bedtime story. I rather liked that take on it.

Fast Fast Fast

Zoom zoom zoom
goes the world world world
and clang clang clang
go the cities.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh
go the cars cars cars
and zip zip zip
go the people.

March march march
go the feet feet feet
and push push push
go the elbows.

Tap tap tap
go the hands hands hands
and buzz buzz buzz
go the voices.

Do do do
says the time time time
and zip zip zip
go the moments.

Slow Slow Slow

Soft

soft

soft

float

the

clouds

clouds

clouds

and

high

high

high

soar

the

mountains.

Far

far

far

roll

the

plains

plains

plains

and

clear

clear

clear

splash

the

rivers.

Tall

tall

tall

reach

the

trees

trees

trees

and

bright

bright

bright

dance

the

meadows.

Wide

wide

wide

stretch

the

skies

skies

skies

and

strong

strong

strong

roll

the

oceans.

Be

be

be

says

the

time

time

time

and

look

look

look

call

the

stars.

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Did you know that we've published 20+ stories so far, and that you can read them all for free? Just visit our bookshelf page for the links. If you like physical books (and who doesn't!), 12 of our titles are available for sale on Amazon.

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