Story Time #14: Owl Moon

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Length: 7:55

In casual conversation it is often difficult to explain life with a hyperlexic boy.

My wife's brilliant new blog has begun to open the eyes of more people to some of the particulars of our family's life together. And I of course have more than a hundred individual video posts that fill in even more detail.

But I've generally edited my "Story Time" series pretty tightly, to capture just the highlights of the boy's recitations. This time I'm inviting you to experience this family pastime in near-real time.

We tell people that he memorizes and recites stories, but those who haven't had (or taken) the time to really listen to him may not understand that this is not merely passive brain activity. Storytelling for him is PLAY.

The story, in this case, is one of the most beautifully written and illustrated picture books in our collection, OWL MOON, the 1988 Caldecott Medal winner by Jane Yolen. The boy knows it from a Scholastic video adaptation, and from the hardcover book. The audio from the DVD--read by the author--is also available as a download from iTunes.

It's the story told in the voice of a young girl walking in the snowy woods, the first time she's been allowed to accompany her father on a late night search for owls. The book makes for excellent bedtime reading, and makes an outstanding gift for fathers of young children (especially girls).

The boy and I have taken this walk many times after dark. On one beautiful evening back in August 2007, I brought my camera along.

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semanal08, semanal08week2

Story Time #13: Time of Wonder

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Length: 1:24

From late March, when the boy was beginning to feed us lines. Tricky, as he was still working on his own diction (for example, here where he can't quite say "begins"), but remaining insistent that we get it right.

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Length: 0:53

From the morning of his third birthday back in January, upon receiving the full-size version of a book he already owned in boardbook form.

Story Time #11: Apt. 3

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Length: 0:17

A quick driveby.

Story Time #4.5: Big Time Olie

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Length: 1:04

Here again in August 2006. The boy's diction is limited, but definitely expressive, as he reads to his grandparents two thousand miles away.

Story Time #3.5: Oh, The Thinks You Can Think

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Length: 1:01

A reading moment in the middle of the kitchen floor. From back in July of 2006, when the boy's diction was a lot less clear.

Story Time #10: Hyperlexia

I hadn't originally intended to do seven videos about the boy this week. But on day two, Josh left a comment asking me to explain where such a little guy was going on a school bus. This video attempts to answer that question. But for those of you (like Josh) who've only ever met the boy through this videoblog, this may leave you with more questions than answers.

I knew it was going to take me all week to put together this one, so I filled the remainder of the days with unpublished videos from the past. I think it does create a bit of an arc to the week, and it's perhaps fitting that with this video I cross over the 100 video milestone.

Length: 4:16

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Those of you following a link about hyperlexia can click in the right column on the video category "story time" to see videos of the boy reading/reciting.

That'll just about do it for Videoblogging Week 2007.

Tags: videobloggingweek2007,hyperlexia

Story Time #9: In the Night Kitchen

Another bathtime recitation, this one from the Maurice Sendak classic.

Length: 1:26

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This is day three of Videoblogging Week.

Tag: videobloggingweek2007

Story Time #8: Trashy Town

Sometimes when reading a story, it's difficult to stand still.

A super cute book we discovered via one of the boy's many Scholastic DVDs.

Length: 0:53

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Story Time #7: Dr. Seuss' ABC

Last week this was the answer to the question: "What's your favorite book?"

Length: 1:10

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Story Time #6: Chrysanthemum

This continues a run of "Story Time" episodes you'll see in the coming weeks, as the boy's been on a bit of an oral interpretation tear of late.

Here the Master Thespian "reads" from Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes. The Scholastic video adaptation features a brilliant voice performance by Meryl Streep, but here the boy riffs on his mother's vocal inflections. I make no money if you buy the book or DVD from Amazon.

The fact that his back is turned (and that a conversation is going on in the background) reinforces our sense that he is performing this entirely for his own enjoyment.

Length: 1:18

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Story Time #5: Oh Say Can You Say?

The boy's diction has taken a giant leap forward, as evidenced by his handling of this tongue twister from Dr. Seuss.

Length: 1:00

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Story Time #4: Dreams

A recitation in motion.

A passage from "Dreams" by Ezra Jack Keats.

Length: 0:41

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Story Time #3: How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?

Buy the book. Or the DVD.

Alma Gloeckler retired from the classroom after teaching my brother's first grade class, but she stayed on at the school as a one-to-one reading instructor. I was fortunate enough to spend time each week in Miss Gloeckler's supply closet of a room, but the environs never mattered to me so much as the access to new and interesting books.

My brother recently shared some reminiscences of Alma on the occasion of her 100th birthday. One reflection stood out for me as something I'd not been wholly conscious of.

When she read to us...she announced the author and illustrator with a reverence that we began to hold these professions in higher esteem than any other we'd previously considered.

As you'll see here, the boy's auditory recollection indicates we've been doing the same for him.

Moreover, my respect for authors, of children's literature in particular, led me to police myself a bit on this one along the intellectual property borderline.

With luck it won't diminish what is quite possibly the cutest footage I have ever captured of the boy. Although if you're an English reader you may need to go back and watch it a second time.

Length: 2:28

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Story Time #2: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

At two years and one week old, the boy is perhaps* David Foster Wallace's youngest fan.

Length: 3:27

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Categories: the boy

*An assertion made without knowing whether DFW has himself a small niece/nephew/cousin or other small child in sufficient interrelational proximity to hold such a title, and by dint of actually knowing him a fan not of his work but of the man himself. Of course watching the video it will become clear to most viewers that the boy is arguably less so much a fan of DFW than of the work of the employee or contractor of Little, Brown responsible for the hardcover book design.

Story Time #1: Caps for Sale

The Boy reads "Caps for Sale", by Esphyr Slobodkina.

Length: 1:53

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Categories: the boy