After spending four months with my own rising first grader I feel even more acutely aware of what rising first graders are into – and need to remember to bring age appropriate materials to Joey. My daughter loves the Princess in Black and the Mercy Watson books – both are series of simple chapter books with bright pictures on each page. They are the perfect bridge to reading chapter books – supporting the young listener (or reader) with entertaining and action-filled pages along with the illustrations.
So, in my quest of always offering Joey age-appropriate materials, I brought a Mercy Watson book to his house.
In my virtual Friday read aloud group that Joey participates in I read the book “The Day You Begin” by Jacqueline Woodson. It’s a beautiful book – in both the poetry of the words as well as the pictures. As an adult, I’d read it to myself when it arrived from Amazon and thought “This is perfect.” Of course, reading it silently to your adult self in your head is very different than reading it aloud to a group of energetic kindergarten and first graders on a hot June afternoon. Sometimes beauty gets lost in those moments. 
Moments of Joey sharing his thoughts.
I plopped down beside Joey one afternoon, and asked him how his day had been. He quickly began chatting away, 
