The Book Box (Slice 6 of 31)

This post is a part of the Slice of Life challenge which is hosted on the Two Writing Teachers blog.  The month of March the challenge is to write a blog post a day.


When I got the Troll and Scholastic catalogs as a child, I felt this deep sense of wonder and excitement.  I would pore over the catalog circling every book that sounded interesting and longing for the luxury of being able to get every book I wanted.  My parents usually gave me a price limit and I would agonize over my decision for days.  Finally, I would bring the catalog and my payment back to school and the interminable wait would begin.  How long would it take until my books arrived?

And then, the day would arrive.  The book box would show up at the classroom door as if brought there by fairies (yes, I loved fantasy books as a kid).  My teacher would sort the orders and the pile of shiny new books would be placed on my desk, sometimes towering precariously from the height.  All I wanted to do was bury my nose in that glorious pile and sniff the aroma of new book.  Oh, if they would only figure out a way to bottle that smell.  Being a pretty smart kid, I realized that I needed to restrain myself from book sniffing in public so I just picked up the books and paged through them.  If I was extra lucky, the books would arrive right before silent reading time.  Then I could spend my reading time savoring one of my new treasures.  

When I started teaching, I went in search of the Scholastic catalog because I knew I wanted to share this experience with my students.  What I didn't anticipate is that I would be just as excited about the book box now.  I have a serious book addiction and cannot help myself when it comes to good book deals, so I spend hours agonizing over my selections as an adult also (more so since I am paying for it).  When the book box arrives, I am so excited to sort the books and give my students their books...I only hope their reaction is as enthusiastic as mine used to be.

So yesterday, when that red box arrived at school, I dove right in and sorted through the treasures inside.  I cannot wait to crack open those new books and find the riches waiting there.