Noah's Ark & the Hunger Games: My Unique Summer Reading Experience

By Frankie Derfus, senior English major at Silver Lake College

            This may categorize me as a nerd, but I typically read a lot in the summer. One summer I read the first twenty books in the One for the Money series by Janet Evanovich in six weeks. When I ran out of those I borrowed a few Debbie Macomber books from my grandma. My newest favorite is The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (last summer's readings). This summer, however, was my first summer as a mom, and I didn't have the leisure time to read just any book I wanted. No, this summer my son and I read together.

            The first book my son Evan and I read together was a picture Bible my grandma (his great-grandma) got for him as a baptism gift. It includes ten Bible stories told in simple language with full-page pictures. The first time I read this picture Bible to my son he was about four months old (maybe minus a few days), and he was completely mesmerized. It was like a blind man seeing a sunset for the first time. He looked at the pages and looked at me, then back at the pages. Evan really liked Noah's Ark; I think he enjoyed hearing about all the different animals. He would touch the pages (well, slapped them, but that's beside the point), and he would giggle, and he liked to hold onto my hand when I turned the page. He liked to be involved.

         My adviser here at Silver Lake was kind enough to give Evan the gift of five books. So far his favorite has been Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?; he's six months old now and wanting to hold the book himself, and he tries to turn the pages himself as well. I personally enjoy this book because I remember reading a similar one (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?) when I was young. Again, he couldn't take his eyes off the colorful animals on each of the pages.

            I found my love for books in high school, and I am proud that my son is finding his love early. I can't even do my homework around him because he crawls into my lap and tries to “read” the book as well. When it comes to naptime, Evan sinks into my arms and listens to me read The Hunger Games and falls into a deep, peaceful sleep. Now that he's getting older, I like to set out four or five books, and the first one he crawls to is the book I read to him. Even though my summer reading experience was not one that I had ever had before, I thoroughly enjoyed bringing books into my son's life. I used to work at a daycare, and the kids wanted me to read to them all the time. For some reason, I didn't like it, but it's different when it's your own kid.

            Did you do any summer reading? Was it the same reading you've always done? Maybe you didn't have an experience like I did, but maybe you decided to try reading a  genre you don't typically care for? What were your experiences with your summer reading?

Frankie Derfus is from Wabeno, Wisconsin.  She is a Silver Lake College student majoring in English (writing) and minoring in Psychology.  She lived on campus for two and a half years (five semesters), but will be completing her remaining semesters online after the birth of her son.  Evan was born March 2, 2013.