Since I was hooked on the message of kindness and compassion that the story promotes, I made it our mission to read the book. Shortly after Valentine's Day, I told Lewie we would begin reading Wonder for his twenty minute reading homework every night. When I made the request, his face lit up: "Mommy, my teacher is reading the book to us in class."
"She is?" I replied.
"Yes she is, but we're still at the beginning."
Once I found out the book was being read in class, we made a mad dash to read it first. It didn't take long before we surpassed the class and then read the full 300+ pages. Admittedly, we didn't read the book every night. Sometimes we were sidetracked by Lewie's swim lessons, Cub Scouts events, and his history fair project, but we did manage to read 60+ pages each week.
As we took turns reading the book aloud to each other, we stopped many times to process the thoughts, actions, and emotions of each character. Lewie immediately identified with the main character of the book, August or Auggie. The ten-year old boy loves Star Wars, his Xbox, and his sweet dog, Daisy. (Plus, Lewie is born in "August," so he found yet another reason to like the character.) We learn about August's "facial difference" early on and worry (right along with him and his parents) about how he will fend going to school for his very first time.
Without telling too much of the story, we learn that fifth-graders (along with their parents) can be mean and insecure, but they also can be kind, loyal, protective, nurturing, and thoughtful. The book tells the story from August's perspective, but in-between, it also tells August's story from the perspectives of his sister Via; his good friends, Jack and Summer; his sister's boyfriend, Justin; and his sister's best friend, Miranda. It's during these character shifts that we learn about the inside feelings of these other characters, too, and why they act or react in certain ways.
Lewie didn't want the book to end. As we finished reading the last page, he told me tearfully that Wonder was the best book he ever read in his whole entire life He reminded me that The Polar Express was a close second. (Of course, in between these two books have been many other favorites, such as the entire Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne and all the Elephant and Piggie Books by Mo Willems.)
Now, this week, our treat will be to watch Wonder the movie. I told him that rarely are movies just as good as the books themselves, but I would be lying if I pretended not to be excited about seeing the movie. Consequently, we also learned that R.J. Palacio has written a companion book to Wonder called, Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories. It's already on Lewie's wish list.
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