Nov
07
I’ve noticed over the last year and a half that when Kathryn or Jeremy read books to Katelyn, they read aloud whatever is on the cover and title page before starting the book. So if they’re reading Pajama Time, along with reading that title they’ll also say, by Sandra Boynton, Workman Publishing. Or Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Clement Hurd, published by Harper Collins. I’m not really sure why they do that! I may remember seeing Trent and Shanna do the same thing with their kids. I think I’ve asked them about it in the past but at the moment whatever they told me has escaped my mind.
But it got me thinking about the way I read books…and I may not be all that different in what I do! I pretty much read a book cover to cover; the acknowledgments, who the author dedicated the book to or thanked and anything about the author. I sometimes scan the page with the publishing info on it. If there are discussion questions in the back I always read those; it sometimes helps me see things a bit differently or get even more from the book. Recently I finished My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult and there was a Q & A with her in the back that I found interesting. She told how her 12 year old son had read the book and was mad at her for a while when he got through with it because of the ending. (I’m still trying to figure out why she’d let her 12 yr. old read that book!) But I like to know what an author has to say about their book. For some reason I don’t think I’ve gotten everything out of it unless I’ve read it all……so I guess I read the book, the whole book and nothing but the book!
It’s the same way for me with movies/dvd’s. I watch the previews that are at the beginning (I might find another movie I want to see!) and after the movie is over, we usually watch any extras and special features that are on the dvd. Some movies have had really good documentary type things, if the movie was based on a true story. Many of them have bloopers that are funny. Or they’ll have the writer and producers talking about why they did scenes a certain way or how they cast the movie, etc. Evan Almighty had a lot of “green” type info and tidbits in their extras but they also told how they filmed the movie with all those different animals, that was fun to watch. When they filmed parts of it in Virginia, the director gave everyone on the set bikes to ride around so they wouldn’t have to use cars/trucks so much! Just interesting bits of trivia is maybe why I’m like that but I feel like I have to click around and find out what’s on the whole dvd before I return it or I feel cheated out of seeing the whole thing!
I wonder if anyone else does the same thing as me…..hopefully I’m not the only one. 😆 Tell me about you; do you read or watch the whole thing with all the extra or just the main thing?
November 7th, 2007 at 10:29 am
I will tell you, your grandchildren’s teachers will LOVE that their parents read all that periphreal stuff to them. In the 3rd grade, when they learn about title pages, illustrators, publishing, etc, your grandkids will have a much easier time understanding what all that is.
Educators call it previous knowledge and it is what builds in a child so that when they learn something new, they have something old to hang it on … so everything connects.
I say KUDOS to them.
And yes, alas, we do the same as you do. We read it all/watch it all/etc. Gives the full picture you know.
November 7th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I read everything, cover to cover, too. And at the movies, I’ve always stayed until the very end of the credits. I like reading all the names, the location, the music credits. I think it helps me to sort of “come out” of the movie and gradually get back to the real world! Now, is that weird? I have to admit, I don’t always watch all the special features on DVDs. But one of my favorite movies is “Something’s Gotta Give” and I loved watching it with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson narrating it as you watch it — one of the special features. It was a hoot!
November 7th, 2007 at 10:38 am
I’m with you on watching the extras on DVD movies. I love to find out why or how they did certain things or the funny things that happened while they were filming certain parts.
But books? I just want the story. I never read the list of acknowledgements or that kind of stuff. Now if there is a Q&A with the author I will read that because that’s like the “director’s commentaries” on the DVD’s. Or if there are book club questions, I’ll read those too!
November 7th, 2007 at 11:20 am
I do the same thing with books. I think it’s great that children hear about the entire book – author, illustrator, publisher, etc. Everyone should get credit for what they’ve done in the book.
And the same with movies. We always watch the end credits. Dom has this “thing” – he always wants to know who did the catering. Why?? He’s just strange!
November 7th, 2007 at 11:27 am
I do the same thing with books – I like knowing all I can about them.
But with movies I only do that if it is a true story and if I loved it. Then I also do research on the internet to find out how much they changed a true story. Then I get mad and wish I had never looked into it because I discover they “embellished” so much of the story that it is very distorted from the truth. Then I get angry and storm through the house and yell questions like “Who do they think they are anyway that they can change the facts and make people believe lies!!!”
It’s probably not good for my blood pressure.
November 7th, 2007 at 11:36 am
You know I do the same thing as you on both books and DVDs. I think it started from always being fascinated by the ‘creation’ of things. I always looked for books on about the way things were done in movies and tv. Then it went into books and the way the authors got them published, where they get ideas from, and how to write them. You know the old fantasy almost everyone has about writing a novel and getting it published? 😉
So now it’s just natural for me to read or watch this stuff and I have learned from it which is always good. In some cases, it’s even made me look further.
November 7th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
I am the same way with books. I read them cover to cover, every part, and savor them. I think I probably *tend* to be like that with movies. But, my better half can’t stand wasting his time on any of the extras. To be fair, some of them aren’t all that great, I guess it depends on the movie and subject matter. So, no to the movie/DVD part, we don’t watch much of that. Or any, really 🙂
November 7th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
With books, I’ll read just about the whole thing. Not big on the discussion questions and the publishing info, but otherwise, I read it. With movies on DVD, I tend to skip the previews ’cause I’m anxious to see the movie I want to see, and I’ll pick and choose what extras I watch.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Uh, I’m supposed to tell you that “you’ve been tagged”. Great news, huh?
November 8th, 2007 at 3:33 am
Generally I do like previews and will watch the bloopers on DVDs. In books, I usually read the acknowledgments but never read the publishing info. I do love books that come with study questions in the back.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:40 am
I’m like you when it comes to books, but not when it comes to movies.
November 8th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I read the whole thing and do the same with movies.
Blessing from Costa Rica
November 9th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Not me, LOL. I skip everything in the beginning and everything in the end. I don’t like to mess around, LOL.
November 9th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I do the whole thing too! My hubby likes to skip previews and special features, but I like it all!
November 9th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I usually read the “extras,” too. I like to know more about authors and actors. I love Special Features on a DVD and do feel shorted if the DVD doesn’t come with any. My favorite part is “The Making of…”.
November 14th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
My husband likes to read everything and watch everything. I rarely care to know anything but the story or the movie. lol We’re complete opposites.