A WOGGLE IN TIME

The Wog's loves her nightly bedtime routine--we usually read a few of her favorite picture books, followed by nursery rhymes or poetry. Lately I have been wondering if she might not enjoy a chapter book, and considering starting her on the Little House series. On a completely unrelated (or so I thought) note, I have been revisiting some of the young adult fiction I enjoyed as a child--the Narnia books, Madeleine L'Engle, etc. Last night was Marc's turn to put The Wog down, and I could overhear snippets of their conversation through the monitor. The first time I heard "Charles Wallace" I thought, "Well, that sounds familiar, but it couldn't be..." And then I tuned it out and went back to whatever I was doing on the computer.

When Marc came down later he declared, "She LOVES that book." I was like, "What book?" and he explained that--at her urging--they'd started reading a chapter book that was up in her room. It turned out to be "A Wind in the Door," which is the 2nd book in the "Wrinkle in Time" series about the transplanetary adventures of Meg Murry, her brilliant younger brother Charles Wallace, their twin brothers and scientist parents--including the Nobel Prize-winning (and beautiful to boot!) Mrs. Murry. The Wog must have brought the book up to her room; she had been fascinated by the many-eyed dragon from the cover art. It's definitely beyond her mental and emotional comprehension but she likes the dragon enough to want to keep reading. I hope she will eventually love these books as much as I did when I was a child. (I never read Madeleine L'Engle's other books so I've only just learned that Meg and Calvin name their daughter--and future series protagonist--Polly!)

I think I'm going to steer them in the direction of "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler," or good old Ramona Quimby for future readings. In the meantime, she'll be the only kid in her preschool class who knows what "fewmets" are, I suppose.