Reader's Fave

Reader's Fave

By Dan Turner

I recently interviewed Jamie Ashford for our 43rd installment of Reader's Fave, a casual interview with someone who shares their favorite book. Jamie and her family live in San Leandro, California and were visiting Cathlamet during the holidays.

With some of her current favorite reads being "Just For You" by Mercer Mayer and "The Smallest Elf" by Annie Ingle, Jamie decided and pointed to "All By Myself," the "Little Critter" series by Mercer Mayer. We read through the book together, and Jamie pointed out certain aspects which she remembered from previous readings that she found appealing. "Mouse," she said and pointed to the mouse, when asked if she could find the mouse on certain pages as we read. She did not miss one. "Button" and "socks" were mentioned when Jamie saw the character, Little Critter, struggling and succeeding in getting his clothes on. Jamie frowned and seemed concerned on the page where Little Critter was spilling his juice. However, she was quick and happy to say, "Baby sister," and pointed out Little Critter's baby sister on another certain page. Jamie said, "Yes" and "Red, slow, and fast," when she saw and was asked about the bike which Little Critter had compared to her own bike at home. She seemed to enjoy seeing the teddy bear in the book and agreed that she had a teddy bear at home. On one page, there were many living things, and Jamie was quick and able to give names to each. Not missing a beat, she said, "Birds, butterfly, grasshopper." There was a baby on one of the pages who was drinking from a bottle. Jamie knew what should be in it, saying, "Milk in bottle." Little Critter was shown sitting at the kitchen table, drawing on some paper. When questioned, Jamie agreed that she, too, had crayons at home with which to draw and color. Nearing the end as Little Critter was getting ready for bed, Jamie mentioned she, too, had pajamas and their colors were "red" and "blue." When she saw Little Critter brushing his teeth, Jamie made it clear that she had a Bluey toothbrush which she used before "night night" time. As we ended our read of "All By Myself," Jamie, when asked, said, "Read before bed," is what she and family does each night.

During our interview, there happened to be some other people nearby who were listening in. One of them was Jamie's mom, Erin, who mentioned, "The book is age appropriate, and I think it's funny that that's her favorite book." Jamie's grandmother, Cindy, laughingly commented, "Oh, of course! Ha! Ha! Everyone will get a chuckle about that." Grandma confidently agreed with mom about the apparent independence of Jamie and wanting to do things all by herself.

As to Jamie's favorite format when reading a book, it was not clear, However, currently, it seemed both from observations and what is available for her, that she enjoys physical books and reading them sitting on or next to her mom or dad's lap.

May you wonderful Wahkiakum readers find a favorite book which a young one in your family wants you to read over and over, and again and again.