7.22.2004

Who Needs Fiction?

It finally dawned on me that, at this point, our girl would be content to side-step the whole fiction category. She did check out a single non-non-fiction library book yesterday, but did so under protest. Thankfully we ran into a second grader friend, who recommended the Magik Tweehouse series and was able to convince Iz that it contained lots of interesting things to learn as well as the silly stories.

After she grudgingly added one Tweehouse book to her stack, she set off in search of the last item in her her seven-volume quota. (That's all I can carry.) I heard her puttering on the other side of a stack, and then, suddenly, a shriek of delight: "Mommy! I found a book called Classifying Fish!"

At night both Seymour and I read with her. She doesn't argue when we choose CSLewis's or Mr. Dahl's books, but never has any questions about them, or wants to discuss them. Her science books, however, generate a constant stream of queries: "If Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, then what's the smallest?" "Is amber softer or harder than coral?" "Will humans ever become extinct?" Seymour and she have just started Dynotopia, and she's a bit more enthusiastic as it interweaves a lot of semi-science. But still.

She has nothing but contempt for stories about children who hang out together and have adventures or interpersonal conflicts or bake cookies. She's not even that interested in stories about witches, magic, or dragons. She craves cold, hard, facts. Even her viewing material is similar: The Magic Schoolbus, or animal documentaries.

I am probably projecting too much, as, in my mind, there is no surrender sweeter or stronger than giving oneself up to a good story. I loves me the science, too, but am panicking at the thought of her missing out on one of the most delicious parts of life. Suggestions?

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