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Now this is interesting.

Fanfiction teaching children to read in the future? Wow, gives me another reason to keep writing... if to say my stuff's considered as motivational or educational. ^^;; Hey, at least to get kids to read, right? :)

This brings a lot of nostalgia too, such as this thread.

I'll say it now--today and back when I was little, I was a damn smart kid. (Hence the whole skip-kindergarden-and-1st-grade-and-move-to-2nd thing) I forget what Roald Dahl's books were aimed for (9-12 year olds?) But I remember my teacher Ms. Everhart reading these to the class--and I'd come to read them on my own. I was eight, and I loved these books. Loved them to death. While every other girl my age was immersing themselves into Babysitter's Club, Street Valley High or something, I was awed by Matilda and such. I think Matilda had to be my favorite ('Prolly still is)--I related to her more than I ever could with Claudia, Jessie, and the rest of the gang. She loved to read, and she was smart--but she's in this awful environment where her family doesn't even sit back and think "Whoa..." about her abilities--she isn't like them, they ignore her. She finds more to life than sitting in front of the television and being a cheap car salesman. But does that get Matilda down? Nuh uh. She pulls clever pranks, like switching her father's hair dye and putting super glue in his hat. Much better than a dreary, wangsty book, eh? Roald Dahl is supposed to be fun. ;D

Then Matilda finally goes to school and learns the horrors of the Trunchbull, and befriends her teacher Miss Honey... and it gets even better from here.

I forgotten when I read Charlotte's Web and Chronicles of Narnia, but damn, those were good books. Charlotte's Web though, I remember from an early age--I think that's where my love of spiders came from, but I'm not sure. That, or the book heightened it. The Narnia books, I know it's been ages since I've read them--the books are incredibly fuzzy in my mind now, and I've forgotten most of what happened--I'm due for a reread probably, considering they're making a movie for The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe soon. XD I read The Hobbit in 7th grade.

It was sad too, 'cause whenever reading came up in class, I was always ahead of the others. Even today, I'd be more-than-half-way finished with the book while everyone else is still on Chapter 1 or 2 or similar. I often find myself reading ahead in class, 'cause I'm already past the part everyone's reading now in class. And I get bored trying to follow along in Open-Reading (Translation: Read orally to class) and when my name is called, I'm lost 'cause I'm on a different page. That, and today, it was rare I offered to read orally--the kids start snickering how loud I talk. Pft. Sometimes, I mispronounce words 'cause I'm more used to reading them then saying them. And my thoughts and reading move faster than my eyes and mouth, so I slip up sometimes--cue more sniggering.

At any rate, from what I remember long ago, teacher, class, and I were reading, and the class would be something like this:

Kid: And the... the... girl and her... fuh-father picked out... uh... bul-bul--"
Teacher: Blouse.
Kid: Bul-ouse, and then... uh... and then, they went... fih--fih..."
Teacher: Fishing.
Kid: Fishing. "I hope we... we have fun on this fih--fih..."
Teacher: Fishing.

Me: And the girl and her father picked out a blouse, and then, they went fishing. "I hope we have fun on this fishing trip!" Jane exclaimed. "Oh, I'm sure you'll catch something!" her father said. *thinking* You guys are so slow! This is SO easy, it isn't hard at all...

Exaggeration? Maybe. But I remember putting up with something like this while we were reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond. (Hated that book... ick)

And then, there's the fact that whenever the class is assigned a book, everyone hates it but me, who adored it. Everyone whined about Tell-Tale Heart sucking while I declared myself in awe of Edgar Allen Poe for the rest of my life. I read Fahrenheit 451 before it got school-assigned--big book that required thought (Oh, GASP! Don't mention the t-word in today's society!) and I loved it. It turned out I read Lord of the Flies while it didn't have to be school-assigned after all--creepy as hell, (but that's the point) but I liked it. Dad and I shared our own views of "Romeo and Juliet" and overall got a deeper impression out of it then if I learned from class alone. Wait a minute, this entire paragraph is another rant altogether.

What I'm saying is, I wish children could read more often, you know? There's kickass stuff for kids out there, like The Giver, The Pigman, The Phantom Tollbooth, etc. And I won't hesitate on Harry Potter again, reading that is better than reading nothing. And Series of Unfortunate Events, which I've been reading lately. (I'm on Slippery Slope--don't spoil me, or I'll whack you) There's so much awesome stuff out there, even if at my age, I'm pushed with stupid romance novels that hold no appeal to me, and I turn to manga for my refuge. (Not to say manga doesn't count as reading material. *winkwink*)

(no subject)

Good God... FROGS are becoming extinct, too!?

"We have to change the idea that they are ugly and slimy. They are beautiful,
diverse species, just like hummingbirds or butterflies," said Martin Bustamante,
herpetologist at Ecuador's Catholic University.

30 years from now, I am defintely not living in a future without animals. Yeah, I'm packing my bags and moving to a planet with more vegatation.

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( Summer Romance Quizzie )

In other words, I piled through my entire fanfic stash at azure_sashes and, not counting incomplete private fics/announcements/junk and such, I have sorted them all in my Memories section. Don't be afraid to look around and comment on the older stuff--I love feedback. :3 And I'm an attention whore.

I wanted to write a drabble, but bah! Almost time for me to go to bed. Nooooes, and my inflatable bed just got a hole poked in it, too. :( A nice day otherwise, though. Including celebrating "Sonic"'s 14th birthday, hehe.