Give a child a book for Christmas ... then read it aloud!

Reading aloud changes lives.

I'm a bear about reading aloud to children and you should be too. 

Many parents and grandparents are frankly puzzled at how to share time with a child. Get down on the floor and play plastic soldiers or Barbies? My wife does and is beloved as 'the playing grandma.'

But for the rest of us, reading aloud preps a child for school and for life and for a real relationship with you! Time spent together. There's no substitute. 

With Christmas and gift-giving in mind, I want to list a few books that delighted me, my children and my grandchildren, and will delight you and yours as well. But for maximum effect, you can't just give them, you have to sit down with a child to read. And this works all the way through grade 8. 

Doubts about what book to buy? Start here.

The short answer is 'anything by Maurice Sendak.' For most people, the Sendak pinnacle is "Where the Wild Things Are." Never read it? You're in for a treat. It starts the night Max wears his wolf suit. 

Less widely known, but also wonderful—rich, rich artwork—is anything by Chris Van Allsburg. Thanks to movies and video, his "Polar Express," is better known. But feast your eyes on the rich images and compelling tale ... with a twist ... in this book, "The Garden of Abdul Gasazi." Just wait until you see what happens when Fritz, the dog, ventures where he is not supposed to. 

Not just for children!

If you imagine you'll be bored reading children's books, get set for a pleasant surprise, especially when you get to the middle grades. "Hatchet," by Gary Paulsen, will have you sneaking to read ahead.

Find out what happens to Brian when he's stranded, forced to spend the summer, alone in the north, with just a hatchet. A youth book? Yes, but one you'll love at any age. I still buy this one at the Goodwill for a buck or two and hand them out. 

It's that good!

A similar, northern adventure book, suitable for about age 10 to forever, is my own Alaska dogsled tale, "Cheechako." The book is enthusiastically recommended by reading specialists, who tell me that kids who don't like to read, read ahead to find out what happens. You will, too. 

Like "Hatchet," "Cheechako" is the first book in a series. It's great to know that when you and your kids or grandkids get hooked on a book, there are more to come!

Escape to Narnia

There are more good starter books than anyone can blog about. But my list would be incomplete without mentioning the classic C.S.Lewis "Narnia" series. They are wonderful adventure, and with seven books in the series, an adventure that goes on and on. These were the "Harry Potters" of their day, and are still filled with magic and adventure.

The "Narnia" series is the sole reason my brothers and sister survived into adulthood, because our mother used to read them to us while we did our group chores, the supper dishes. Otherwise, we would certainly have beaten each other to death with soapy kitchen implements. 

These books are all available in paperback, digitally in any format, or ... with the exception of "Cheechako," even available in hardback.

And be sure to sign the book at the front, before you Christmas wrap it. Someday, your signature, message, and this gift will be what's left when you've left the planet. In addition to all the other benefits, this is your chance to give a child a lifelong, warm memory. 

How often is something like that this easy?!

A book kids read when they don't want to read anything

I didn't write "Cheechako" to be a book for reluctant middle-grade readers.

I wrote it to be the kind of book I would have searched for, jumped on and disappeared into when I was ten, eleven or twelve.

It's not a long book, only about 140 pages–which turns out to be good. And it's filled with action, adventure, and maybe most of all ... independence: the chance for kids to get off on their own. It's the stuff of many kid's dreams.

By chance, several of my early readers are adult middle-school reading specialists and so I started hearing about reluctant readers. These are kids who can read, but choose not to. They'd rather be doing something else ... almost anything else.

The book is already in use in classrooms, and teachers report back that students choose to miss other activities like movies and special school events to sit in the classroom and read "Cheechako."

Some even did the unthinkable. They sneaked and read ahead. For an author, does it get any better?!

I'd like to ask a favor. If you know a middle-school teacher, librarian or reading specialist, would you forward this "Cheechako" link for their consideration.

http://www.amazon.com/Cheechako-Book-Jonathan-Thomas-Stratman

And thank you!

Welcome to Nenana, Alaska

It's a bit hard to tell from this view, but what you're seeing is a log tripod out on river ice, connected to land by a cable. Here's a link for a better view: http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

Scroll to the page bottom to see this view.

The river is the Tanana ... Tan-uh-nah, though not well known, one of America's significant rivers. It flows on west to join the Yukon River.

This is a view from the town of Nenana ... Nee-nan-uh ... on a map just about dead-center in the state, midway on the railroad between Fairbanks and Mt. McKinley National Park.

I have two novel series, the Cheechako series for middle-grade readers and the Fr. Hardy mysteries, which is an adult series. Both do (or soon will) include episodes built around breakup on the Tanana.

Breakup is a big deal in Nenana, and in central Alaska generally. Nenana hosts an ice pool, and people from all over buy a ticket and attempt to guess exactly when the ice will warm up enough to break up and be swept away downriver.

What happens is, the ice moves this tripod, which tightens the cable, stopping the clock. There are several hundred thousand dollars to be won. Do you feel lucky?

I saw my first breakup at age eight. It remains vivid in my mind, though more than a half century gone. And, when I write about breakup, I'm writing about those I remember from back then. It was exciting, dramatic, potentially deadly for anyone foolish enough to be out there when the ice started moving.

So, yes, a great place for me to put my characters. To read about a dog trapped on moving ice, and the daring rescue, check out my series' first book, also titled Cheechako.

To read about a human, trying to make it to the other side, watch for In Gold We Trust, a Fr. Hardy mystery, due out this summer.

You can read the first 30 pages of any of my books, free at this link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=jonathan+thomas+stratman

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