Shameless brag (yes, another one)

I got an email from Thing 1's teacher last week. (That's the daughter.) There's a county contest, which feeds into a state contest, for Reader of the Year. Heh. If you knew my daughter, you'd be putting money on her to win for the state. She's 8, and she's been reading for over 5 years--you do the math. She loves to read, and further, she's pretty daggum good at it. Reads books that I chose not to read. For an example, read her essay, written for the contest. (I wonder if there's prize money involved? Or at least a Border's gift certificate.)

My Reading Autobiography

by Feral Cat disguised as Smart Child

My favorite hobby is reading. I started reading when I was two and a half years old. The first book I remember reading was Madeline. When I read, I feel like I am actually watching the book, and it seems like it’s a free movie in my head. If I had a choice between books and movies, I would choose books. I am interested in different kinds of books. I can’t think of a book I wouldn’t like. I like to read for two and a half hours on weekdays and all of the weekend. I like to read before bed, because it improves my reading skills more and calms me down. Whenever I go on errands with my mom or dad, I always like to take a book in the car. I enjoy having reading for a talent, because it is good for you and your grammar skills also improve. Something bad about loving to read is when you try to read, you always get disturbed, and you are never allowed to read when you want to.

Right now, I like to read Harry Potter, Charlie Bone and the Oz books. I also like to read history books. I have also read, in order: the American Girls series and The Chronicles of Narnia. My favorite book in the Chronicles of Narnia is The Silver Chair. I liked The Silver Chair because it has one setting underground and they get to meet gnomes and the Witch Queen. I have also read Flatland by Edwin Abbott. If you ask me about Flatland, I would say that it was explosively wonderful. Zero, one, two and three dimensions are interesting and make you think. I like to read the Usborne History Encyclopedia. The evolution section is awesome because you can learn about the evolution of man and sea creatures. I like also to read The Number Devil. The main character, Robert, has fun doing math. It calls powers “hops” and calls square roots “rutabagas”. I almost embarrassed myself saying that in math class one day!

Reading keeps you from being afraid in situations that are new, like going to the dentist. My mom told me I read a book called Meet Michael’s Dentist before I went to the dentist the first time. I liked it so much, I wanted to actually bring it to the dentist!

When I grow up, I want to be an editor, because they read books and test them to see if they are any good. If they like them, they give them to the publisher and tell the author, “Your book has been published.” But I’m going to have to learn how to be more picky about what I like in books, because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be a good editor.

I promise, I asked her questions and she answered them. I made sure the sentences were complete sentences. (You know I didn't edit for style or content, because she has that split infinitive in there that gives me the willies every time I see it.) But am I crazy, or do I have a ringer here?