And Now for some Fun! :)

For your theatrical enjoyment: a charming short film about the glorious world of books.

It's about fifteen minutes long, but it seemed a lot shorter to me...

perhaps because I enjoyed it so much. :) 

"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" brings to life the wonderful feelings of life-long companionship readers can have with books. 

With it, students' appreciation of "the lives" of the books we read can be awakened so they seek out more of the life to be found in books for themselves!

If you really like it, consider making it a part of a reading or writing lesson during that first week of school. I've listed a few question ideas to promote discussion if you do. And parents, don't be afraid to engage with your children in conversation using similar questions for videos like this. The goal of asking such questions isn't to quiz or test your kids on what they learned, but instead to awaken their imaginations and encourage their growing minds to think and their growing vocabularies to articulate those thoughts into words.

 You might also use this video as an introduction to the wonderful, imaginative place that a library full of books can be. For parents and teachers alike, the library should be an often-visited sanctuary where your child can go to simply get away from the world and read.

And, for as much as we will always wish that our kids paid attention to us like they do to the movies :), short films like this one still make useful resources for keeping students engaged in the classroom.

A Few Question Ideas to Promote Discussion or Writing Ideas for Students:

1. In this short film, how do the books act or behave? (Do they seem to act like people?)
2. How would you describe the personalities of the books in this story? (Friendly? Talented? Entertaining? Caring? Concerned?)
3. What happens in the story to make them act or feel this way?
4. Do books ever have real feelings?
5. Why do you think the film-makers decided to give the books in this story different kinds of emotions? (Perhaps to show how books make readers feel instead?)
6. What kinds of feelings do you experience when you read a book? Does it depend on the book? Does it have to be an adventure, a funny story, or an uplifting tale? Or do you enjoy reading some stories even if they're sad or frightening?
7. If you could write a story about books in a library, what would they do? How would they interact with each other? (Would they play the piano or fly, or dance, or perhaps even sing?) Would they ever interact with people like the books in this story did?
8. What is your favorite book to read? Why do you like it? (Do you like it because of the characters, the way they act, the interesting plot, or the way it makes you feel at the beginning, middle, or end?)