Lee started us off with the Doctor’s “Hop on Pop.” The group of ten boys were immediately clinging to his every word. They crowded around his legs and giggled at every rhyme. Long story short, it was absolutely perfect.

Then I read “The Dunderheads,” by Paul Fleischman. It chronicles the story of a group of kids with special skills on a daring rescue mission to save their friend’s precious stuffed cat from the evil clutches of their teacher. It was pretty awesome. The kids adored it, laughing and listening to everything. I’ve only read to these kids once, and I already love them.

Finally, Lee read “I Want My Hat Back,” by Jon Klassen. He adopted an amazing low voice for the bear, to the point that he even had me in fits of laughter. He was funny and engaging; all in all, it was probably the best experience I’ve had yet with Brother Reader.

We’ll keep you updated on how all of our schools go — we’ll have an update from the Yates branch up soon — and hope everyone has a great Dr. Seuss day. Keep reading!

Then I read “The Dunderheads,” by

Anyways, as a result of the unexpectedness that we would be reading today, we got off to a late start and even arrived around ten minutes late. I must admit I was a little nervous that the teachers would be upset with us, but to my surprise it was quite the opposite, the teachers were smiling when we walked in and even had all the young kindergartners organized and ready to be read to.

Liam started off the reading at Yates today with….. a book that I cannot remember the name of, but I do remember the kids thoroughly enjoyed the book, as a few of them we’re even asking him to read the book again. Next, it was my turn to read, and luckily I can remember the book I read today, Once Upon a Super Baby, a funny book to say the least. The kids enjoyed this book as well. One of the kids even came up to me while Will was reading and shyly asked me if he could take it home. I was surprised by the question and, quite honestly, I did not know what to say to the poor kid, so I sort of mumbled “maybe next time.”, hoping he would forget. After I read it was Will’s turn to read (of course) he also read a book I am unable to remember the name of. Will, as always, read the book somewhat monotone, in my opinion, in fact at times I have even thought Will to be slightly scared of the kids, but I kid, that is not true, Will, in actuality, did an excellent job of reading today, although he might have been slightly scared (I kid, again). (Conor check my grammar, I feel like that might be a run-on sentence.)

So, I guess what I have to say about the Yates visit is that everything, despite the unexpectedness of it all, went very well. We, as always, had an excellent time reading to the joyous kids.

Anyways, I think it might be a good idea to clue you all in on some advancements we have made with Brother Reader today. Firstly, Conor, while Liam, Will, and I were reading to the kids got us started back up again at Hilton Elementary (I can’t wait to be back there, partly because it’s like a five minute walk from my house.) and he got us started up at a new school, Riverside Elementary. Secondly, we got some new members today, Lee, Dallas, and Cameron. Thirdly, Conor set me up with one of these accounts, finally, I might add. And lastly, but not at all less significant I set up a Brother Reader page on Facebook! (Okay, maybe that wasn’t too significant.) Well, all in all, I would say that today was a very successful day for Brother Reader, and, I have one more thing to add, remember Keep Reading!

I kicked off with “The Best Pet of All” by David LaRochelle. The kids roared like dragons when they heard there was going to be a dragon in the story. They luaghed when they saw the dragon eating spaghetti from a bathtub! The kids loved the book.

Next, Will read “Dot” by Patricia Intriago. The kids liked seeing big dots and small dots, dots here and dots there. The giggled when they saw large dot and small dot and hid when they saw shy dot. The kids didn’t want the book the end, but they loved the next book.

Thirdly, we read “Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten?” by Audrey Vernick. The kids loved hearing how a buffalo was in kindergarten doing some of the thing they just did! They loved seeing him finger paint and share, having snacks and cutting snowflakes. One of the kids said he didn’t want to leave, but we had to let our second group have a chance to read.

Finally, I read “Mount Olympus Basket Ball” by Kevin O’Malley. The kids in the second group loved the jokes and all the powers each god had. They loved to see the trick the humans could play on the gods. They even loved the fact that there were announcers giving commentary the entire book.

Well thats all we had for that visit! See you real soon and remember keep on reading!

The first was Riverside Elementary, my alma mater. They were very enthusiastic about us starting a program. We’ll start next Friday to celebrate Dr. Suess’ birthday. Dallas Bevins, baseball stud and terrible rapper, and Cameron Blandford, he of the state champion archery squad, will be leading the program, with some help from me for the first few weeks.

I also talked to the group at Hilton about re-upping our program there. I was given a list of teachers who were interested and told that we would probably be able to start again on Friday. So March 2 is looking like it will be a pretty busy day.

We also enlisted the help of Lee Shrader, the varisty football punter and basketball bench warmer (he prefers the term “7th man off the bench”). Lee will be helping us out whenever we need a body, which will be increasingly often as exams and spring sports heat up.

Finally, we’re still waiting on word from the grant foundation, but we’re rather optimistic on our chances. We’ll keep you updated as things progress in our program. Keep reading!

Our first book was “Once Upon a Royal Superbaby,” by Kevin O’Malley. The boys absolutely loved the butt-kicking toddler and his motorcycle, and actually liked the girly segments too. Their one complaint? “The superbaby needs a puppy.” So there you go Mr. O’Malley; ball’s in your court.

To be fair, that is a pretty sweet motorcycle.

Next, Liam read “Cat Secrets,” by Jef Czekaj. The book required our boys to meow, purr, and roll around the floor on command; in other words, what they do for fun already. The looks from the kids on the other side of the classroom seemed to be a mixture of “What are they doing?” and “Can I do that?” The boys were also spellbound by the little mouse continuously trying to steal the book of cat secrets (when they weren’t rolling around the floor of course).

Finally, I read “Punk Farm,” by Jarrett Krosoczka. We followed concert preparations for the barn’s most happening band, which is led by a sheep and features a goat on bass. The kids loved singing screaming EE-III-EEE-III-OOOOOOO, which generated more confused looks from across the classroom. All told, we had a pretty good day, and kept our rock star image afloat.

How does the goat play bass with no thumbs?

We also have an update from the guys at Yates. Dylan and Will were there today reading to a few guys. “Dot,” by Patricia Intriago was a big hit (it always is), as well as Liz Rosenberg’s “Tyrannosaurus Dad.” Dylan finished with one of my favorite books as a kid, “Casey in the Bath,” by Cynthia DeFelice. “Yea, it was pretty awesome,” said Dylan; high praise from a guy who once described the Homecoming Dance as “sleep-inducing.”

We’re also applying for a grant from Innovations in Reading to expand our program. We’re hoping to hear back from them in a month or two, but we’ll keep you posted. In the mean time, keep reading!

The best book. Ever.

We have a situation similar to that at Hilton, but on a slightly smaller scale; today, we were only reading to three kids, all of whom were much more excited to read than our first kids were initially. I led of with our favorite “Robot Zot,” by John Scieszka. The kids loved the booping and beeping fighting hero, blowing up toasters and saving telephone princesses. It’s been one of our steadiest and most-loved books throughout, and that trend continued today.

Chris read next with another one of our favorites, “I Stink,” by Jim and Kate McMullan. It’s one of our grosser reads; the boys were giggling and groaning the whole way through. They claimed not to like it, but the smiles plastered one their faces said otherwise. Chris’s style of reading is excellent, too. His years on the speech and debate team seem to have paid off.

Patou then read “Shark vs. Train,” by Chris Barton. The kids loved the book, taking sides on each contest between beast and machine, yelling when their side won and pouting when they lost. The loved that book, too.

An epic battle between machine and... dinosaur?

Finally, I finished us off with “Dinosaur vs. The Potty,” by Bob Shea. With my usual MMA-announcer voice, the kids followed the adventures of a dinosaur trying to stave off potty time against the odds. It was our biggest hit of the day, which was perfect, since we went out with a bang.

We also have big news from down south. A group of 8th graders in South Carolina are starting a program of their own in the next few weeks. It great to see other boys getting involved, and we’ll hear from them in the coming weeks as their program gets going. In the mean time, keep reading!

We started with Dylan reprising “Dude: Fun with Dude and Betty.” While he didn’t keep the ridiculous surfer attitude Liam claims he had the week before, he was still at his hilarious best, keeping the kids enthralled the entire time. The book has been a big hit thus far, and will no doubt become one of our go-to books.

This is NOT a naked man.

Then I read “Robot Zot,” by Mike Scieszka and David Shannon, one of our favorites. The boys, as usual, loved the diminuitive hero blasting his way from room to room. The best part, however, wasn’t anything written down. At one point, a man in a T-shirt and boxers is shown in the background of the shot carrying away the “Earth Commander General,” which is really just his dog. I pointed to him and asked the boys what they saw. “That man is naked!” they exclaimed. This is why I love what I do.

That was all the time we had this week, but we’ve negotiated for more time in the future, which we’re very excited about. We also have the videos of us reading, as promised, which will be posted as soon as Will gets them uploaded. We won’t be reading next week, due to Thanksgiving Break, but we’ll be back after that. Keep reading!

Jacob started us off with “Cows to the Rescue,” by John Himmelman. Our boys were a little distracted at first, but simmered down when Will went to the back of the room and started hushing them. Whenever possible, use an extra brother as crowd control. The book went smoothly from there, detailing the escapades of a family and their cows at a local county fair. There was an awful lot of mooing by the end.

This book was as awesome as the cover page.

Next, I read “Rocket Learns to Read,” by Tad Hills. The kids absolutely loved the book. Something about spelling words with a small dog and his even smaller bird teacher brought out the best in them. Having them spell along was a bonus.

Finally, the main attraction, Dylan read “Dude: Fun With Dude and Betty,” by Lisa Pliscou and Tom Dunne. While he only got through half the book, it was, without a doubt, my favorite experience thus far with Brother Reader. Conor is very sorry he missed it. Dylan took on a perfect surfer voice, and coupled with his already bombastic attitude, the book was a smash hit. The boys had a radical time.

DUUUUUUUUDE!

Well, that’s it for this week. We’re still trying to expand to a school by Dylan so he and Patou (who came with us frequently last year) can start their own program. A video will be up later this week of Dylan reading for the pleasure of you all at home. Until then, keep reading!

I led off with “Is Everyone Ready for Fun?” by Jan Thomas. The entire premise of the book is three silly cows goofing off on their friend Chicken’s couch. The kids loved the symmetrical, sing-song writing; by the third “verse” they were reading with us.

That chicken is not having much fun.

Then Jake read “There’s Nothing to Do on Mars,” by Chris Gall. The kids liked the book, if only because, well it was an adventure on Mars. The irony of the story probably went over their heads; we did not have their undivided attention.

Finally, our friend Alex read “Robot Zot,” one of our flagship titles. The boys beeped and booped right along with Alex, crawling over each other to see him fighting toasters and televisions. It was pretty cool.

We’ll be back again next week, hopefully with my brother and our local rockstar, Will, in tow. Keep reading!

To start things off, we read our group of eight boys our timeless classic, “Dinosaur vs the Potty.” In lieu of Will’s MMA-voice, Liam filled in, getting the boys so excited I thought they were watching an actual wrestling match.

More fun than WWE.

Next, Jake read another one of our favorites, “Shark vs Train,” by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld. The kids were enthralled with the ongoing and always hilarious battle between beast and machine as they challenge each other in events as ridiculous as “tight rope swordfighting” and “motorcross car jumping”. Watching their faces light up as they realized how much fun they were having reading was the best part of my day.

Finally, I read my childhood favorite, “What! Cried Granny: An Almost Bedtime Story,” by Kate Lum and Adrian Johnson. As usual, I shrieked and screamed my way through the book, drawing the usual chorus of giggles from the boys and a score of odd looks from the moms volunteering in the other room.

The real winner in this fight is the children. Also, the train. Because trains rule.

At that point, the boys left to go back to centers, telling their fellow kindergarteners how great reading was, how awesome trains are, how they want a teddy bear the size of a room, and how cool the rock stars who read to them were. Mission accomplished.