Next Year I'll Be Special

Extra Outside Reading
" Next year, mean Miss Minch will still be in first grade. I'll be in second grade with Miss Lark and everything will be different. Giff


I decided to do another post over a picture book since that is what we're going over in class. I just got done reading another book for outside reading and wanted to compare an illustrated book with a picture book so that I could come to a better understanding of what the difference is. I think that helped to clarify...


So about the book. I definitley remember my mom reading this book to me when I was younger. I don't know if I had an opinion on the book to be perfectly honest. I do have a few now. In short, I thought that the book was good. I enjoyed it. I think it's good because children can relate. Everyone, elementary to high school aged children of course, wants to be popular, to be part of the in-crowd. In college there really isn't an in-crowd and so a person is in some ways a lot better off. But for children the pressure to fit in can be overwhelming. Those who are in the in-crowd have it easy, or so it seems. Those who aren't in the in-crowd want to be. At least most of them do.


This, is what the book is about... In the story, Marilyn dreams about the second grade and imagines it to be sooooo wonderful compared to first grade. She imagines that she will be liked by everyone and that people will fight over her. The teachers will give her special attention - I guess I could say that she imagines herself as the teachers pet. She expects that she will get the very best that life can offer.



My only compliant about the book is that it's a little unrealistic. It's probable that some of these imaginings would come into fruition but not all of them. I think that it's great to dream but that it could be potentially disappointing in the end. If a person sets their self up for disappointment, has unrealistic expectations, then they will end up disappointed. I know this sounds negative and I'm not against having dreams and aspirations but their comes a time when those dreams become unrealistic, or rather kind of inflated. In the end, this comes to bite a person in the butt.
On the flip side, I have to say that I've maybe been a Marilyn at times. I remember times when I was younger and in school that I had similar thoughts. That eighth grade would be different than seventh that I would wear the trendy clothes and be liked based on what I wore. I imagined that I would become more popular and more loved... And the thing is that I thought this more than once.


But now, I've grown up. I do have dreams and all but I guess I've learned to look at the situation more realistically. Maybe this makes me sound like a cynic but if that's the case then I rather be a cynic then someone who isn't as down-to-earth.


So yeah, I think that's it for now. I should go. I'm tired...