
Read "Yertle the Turtle" (complete with a tremulous, imperious king voice for Yertle and a Cockney accent for Mack, 'cause I could), "Gertrude McFuzz" (with an annoying whiny girl Gertrude and a Tim Curry sounding Dr. Dake) and "The Big Brag" (with a pompus British rabbit, a gruff Scottish bear, and, just for the hell of it, a hillbilly Grandpa worm!) in all four of the classes I read to today. The kids loved them, the librarian came and took pictures of me reading, and then stopped and listened. That was the best part, besides the rapt attention of the kids, when the teachers would start out working at their desks and then I'd glance back at them and they'd be leaning on their desks with their chins in their hands watching me intently. That was cool. Made me feel like I've still got it. Of course, by the fourth class, I wasn't so much reading as reciting.
For Smog's class, I also read "The Lorax", since we had extra time, and that one was a lot of fun, though I actually got a bit choked up at the end of it. I had never read it before. It was neat how it kind of sunk in with the kids...and there was a moment or two of dead silence when I finished reading it, and then the kids applauded. I don't think another ovation will ever mean as much to me as the one I received from the fourth grade class today.