When it comes to stories, which characters stick with you the longest?

Is it the one who stays home and refuses to take any risks? Or do you love the characters who take on an impossible challenge — even if they’re scared to do it — because they want to see wrong turned right?

If you’re like me, your answer is the second type of character.

Characters like Edmund, Aventurine, and Emmeline help me feel brave when I’m in new and scary situations. It’s one of the things I like about reading so much. I get to see normal people take on impossible tasks. Most of the time they succeed in the end. If they don’t? At least they took the chance.

On the other claw, there’s this troll I know from Boring Ridge. His name is G’rack and he never does anything but sit in his cave counting his toe lint collection. Yuck!

I decided when I was just a hatchling that I didn’t want to be like G’rack. That’s how I ended up meeting my friend Jen! This past week, I took another risk. My biggest one yet. For the first time in my life, I went to school!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Last Friday, kids all around the United States celebrated the world of reading. Read Across America Day, also known as Dr. Seuss’s birthday, offers students an opportunity to experience reading as something other than another homework assignment. They get to see that it’s also a fun way to explore the world.

My friend Jen and I drove down to Liberty Elementary School is Salem, Oregon and spent the morning in Miss Lindsay’s 3rd grade classroom. (Miss Lindsay is Jen’s sister, and she’s a super fun teacher!) The school’s theme for this year was “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” So naturally, we used Dr. Seuss’s imagination to create a little fun of our own.

One of our activities was making “Schlop, schlop! Beautiful Schlop! Beautiful Schlop with a cherry on top!” (Yes, you had to sing about scholp while mixing it up. Some of you would know it better as vanilla pudding with a cherry added in. Not everybody liked the final result, but everyone pitched in and everyone tried it.

My first school read-aloud!

I was really nervous when we first got to school. Nobody was there yet, so they let me explore the room before the bell rang. Wow, it was loud!

Jen used to be a teacher’s aid, so she knew what it was like sitting in reading circles and having lots of voices talking to you at once. Dragons are homeschooled, so I’ve never been in a classroom before. I didn’t know what to expect.

At first, I hid out on Miss Lindsay’s desk. It was a safe place to observe the class without being seen. I listened to them find rhyming words in different Dr. Seuss books, say the pledge of allegiance, and sing the national anthem. Can I just say, those third graders can really sing!

And then came the read-aloud. Jen picked the first chapter of the first Spiderwick Chronicles book. But before she started reading, she made me come out of hiding and introduced me to the third graders. Part of me thought they’d be scared or that they’d think dragons were all evil. There’s so many stories about dragons stealing gold, roasting villages, and doing battle with knights.

But they didn’t! They were all excited to see me and asked lots of questions about my dragon family.

We got to tell them that the thing that dragons love most of all is knowledge, and that one of the ways we gain knowledge is by reading books. We talked about our favorite books and we found out which students love to read. We also asked if there was anyone in the room who wasn’t sure if they like reading or not.

A couple kids raised their hands.

That’s when Jen shared that she had a really hard time learning how to read at first. She’d mix up the letters and sounds and she was always afraid of being laughed at by other kids who could read better than her. But then, one day, she found a magical book that she had to read. And that was that. She still mixes up words sometimes, but she doesn’t let it stop her anymore.

After we were done reading the chapter, we told the class we were leaving the book with them. But they had to promise to handle it carefully. After all, all books are precious treasures. That got us another loud Whoop! and lots of promises to take care of it.

On to the library!

My favorite activity of the day was going to my first school library. I got to meet the librarian and talk to some kids who are starting to write their own books. These four students came up with an idea together about creating a time-travel series where the characters get to meet famous people in history.

They’re learning about the people they want to write about, they’re asking questions, and they’re also making sure they have someone check their spelling and punctuation. I can’t wait to read their first story when its finished!

When you read, you find new things that inspire you!

That’s just one more thing I love about reading. It inspires new writers to create new adventures about ordinary (or not so ordinary) people who learn how to do extraordinary things!

What stories inspire you? Share them in the comments section or over on my Instagram. If it’s a story I haven’t read yet, I’ll look for it. If I share it here, I’ll make sure to give you the credit!

Happy Bookwyrm Wednesday, Friends!