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Raising Josh

 One thing I hadn't known is that, if your child has sensory issues, storytime can be a challenge. (Maybe that's true with or without the sensory issues.)


For many months, Josh would sit still for a story -- but, after his body grew stronger, he learned to throw himself from my lap and yell loudly until the storybook went away. This was painful, but we reached a detente. Now, if I give him the story first thing in the day, he will listen, or half-listen. And the stories need to be short: "Dear Zoo," "Barnyard Dance," "Kitten's First Full Moon."

When Josh is "locked in," I'm reminded how great reading can be. I especially see this with "Dear Zoo." A crazed zookeeper sends wildly inappropriate gifts to a kid. A lion, a camel, an elephant. With each gift, you get a "pop-out" page: The child slides a paper cover off a basket, and reveals the animal underneath. This is a full-body sport for Josh. He cannot wait for the pause; he just hurls himself at the paper cover, page after page after page. The process is like reading to Mary Katherine Gallagher, from "Saturday Night Live."

I think about this when I read my own books. If I don't feel that kind of excitement, then what am I doing?

Josh rips books to shreds; we walk upstairs and find a third of "Old Bear" hanging from a light fixture. I feel like I'm visiting Hannibal Lecter's cell after the act-two "escape" scene. But...who says this is the "wrong" way to interact with a book?

In any case, I'm very much looking forward to "Harold and the Purple Crayon" and "Alexander and the Terrible...." These two are on the horizon. Josh is unaware -- but he's in for a treat.











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