The After-Dark Pokemon Literary Circle

Last night set a new precedent. After I read the boys "No Roses for Harry," from the great "Harry, The Dirty Dog" anthology, I let Ian use my reading light. (I find that when I read to them with a reading light, with the lights out, they usually go to sleep faster than when I use "conventional lighting".) Ian wanted to use the reading light to read a bit of Pokemon, an it was long after their bed-time, but I let him, because I thought it would be good for him to get a taste of that "one-on-one" time with a book, a kind of private ritual that fosters bibiophilia in budding young readers.

But Ian didn't just read quietly to himself. For the benefit of Daniel and me, he started reading Pokemon out loud at his standard first-grader rate, which is probably about a third to a half the speed of an adult reader (not counting "roadblock" words...). And this generosity was not wasted: Daniel got out of bed and stood on the ladder between his lower bunk and Ian's upper one, to participate more directly in the experience.

I was impressed that Ian turned out the light and stopped reading right on queue, as we had agreed, and quickly went to sleep. But The Book Club happened briefly before both boys dozed off, and the moderator turned out to be Daniel. He started recounting what Ian had just read, and reflecting, speculating, exploring... I couldn't really keep up with it. Daniel is a bit nasal and droney when he talks, in that classic small-child way (a bit like Lily Tomlin's "Ruth-Ann"), and Ian captured it in his criticism (which I think was meant objectively, rather than harshly). It went more-or-less like this:

"Daniel, I can't understand you. You sound like you're muttering. This is what you sound like:

'...and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then..."

I counted. There were ten "and then"s.

I hate to say it, but sometimes impressionism seems more accurate than realism.

(April 12, 2011)