As far as I recall, there aren't many filial/parental struggles in "Little House in the Big Woods." Papa comes home--and he has a story about wrestling a bobcat or falling off the rim of a canyon--and the children listen attentively.
Storytime works differently in 2025. "You have to give your children the illusion of control," says the special needs counselor. (In "Big Woods," Pa does not have a special needs counselor.) And so, to trick my daughter into enjoying the story I've planned for her, I give her a fictional job, "story boss." Her task is to order the other members of the family to find comfortable spots. Josh chats and dances during the story--and I'm told to accept this, because "different people process a narrative in different ways." Again, I can't help but imagine that Pa Ingalls would have stern words for the special needs counselor.
We are reading "A Boy Called Bat," but my son thinks that the title is "Henry Huggins"--because he believes that *all* novels are called "Henry Huggins." It's possible that he does not see "Henry" as a name but as an abstract noun, a synonym for "education" or "ritual." No one corrects him--the error is too cute to be corrected. There will be plenty of time for that later.
Pa Ingalls would demand thirty or forty minutes of rapt attention--but, generally, I settle for five to seven minutes.
Baby steps...
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