Books in Boxes
Posted by kimford on October 24, 2008
The first batch of RIF (Reading is Fundamental) books arrived today. If you don’t know about RIF, it’s just the best thing on the planet…almost. Because of RIF, my students get three FREE books each year. Not schoolbooks, not library books, but books that can actually belong to them. I spent a big chunk of last week ordering the books, and they got here quicker than I had planned. Our first book distribution isn’t until the first week in December, so now I’ve got to find a place to store all the boxes. It’s a problem I welcome. The big question is….can I store the books without ripping open the boxes just to admire all those shiny covers? Hmmm.
(10 minutes later…) Well, just in case you wondered, I opened the boxes. Smooth, shiny covers – unbroken spines - and that indefinable, fresh smell right in the middle of the book. Go ahead, get a new book, open it up to the middle, stick your nose way in, and just sniff. There’s nothing like the smell of new books. To me, it’s the aroma of possibilities.
One of the books in the box was Shelley Pearsall’s All of the Above. I loved this book, and I think my kids are going to love it too. It takes place in a school a lot like ours, and it’s full of hope and determination…and a lot of humor. Plus, it’s got math connections, and it’s sometimes hard to find novels that connect to math. This would be a great book for a class project.
That’s why All of the Above is today’s BOOK OF THE DAY.
