Now & Then

The words in red are written by "10-year-old me", and the words in green are written by 31-year-old me. Thank you, LitWorld, for writing the words in black. 

1.  I think everyone in the world should read Roald Dahl's Matilda and Beverly Cleary's Dear Mr. Henshaw. I have read both books multiple times. Please don't tell my mom, but I stole my teacher's copy of Matilda. I really wanted it in my personal collection. (I'm sure I'll grow up to be a person who gives away many books.) 

1. I think everyone in the world should read Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan. You knew I was going to write that, right? 

2. If I could listen to anyone in the world read aloud to me it would be my grandmother. 

2. If I could listen to anyone in the world read aloud to me it would be Richard Peck. 

3. When I read aloud, my favorite character to impersonate is Goofy. " Come on, Bessie. Slow and steady, steady and slow. That's the way we always go." Grandma always repeats that line when she catches me rush, rush, rushing. 

3. When I read aloud, my favorite characters to impersonate are the animals in Karma Wilson's Bear Snores On. Bear, Mouse, Hare, Badger, Gopher, Mole, Raven, and Wren have unique voices. 

4. The genre that takes up the most room on my bookshelf is either fantasy or realistic fiction. 

4. The genre that takes up the most room on my bookshelf is a challenging sentence starter to complete. I have it all: historical fiction, mystery, fantasy, magic, science fiction, biography, poetry, and realistic fiction. I believe in a balanced reading diet. 

Filmed in 2011 

5. The last book I wish I’d written or inspired me to write my own story is Charlotte's Web. If you looked inside my desk, you would discover short stories inspired by Charlotte's Web and Little Bear. 

5. The last book I wish I’d written or inspired me to write my own story is Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer.