They Never Fail

I remember being younger and having friends talk about sad movies or things that made them cry. At that time I could not even fathom the concept of actually crying over something like that. I've never thought of myself as an emotional person at all, actually, quite the opposite sometimes. But since I've had kids there seems to have been a switch in my wiring which makes me react strongly to certain things. Lately I've been keeping a mental tally of books I can't read out loud without tearing up. Here they are:
The paintings in this book are beautiful and the story is about babies being born and grandparents carving names into the rafters of an old barn... After I read it to Henry last night we talked about our Places to Love. One of his first was the Children's Museum. (On a sidenote: If anyone wants to buy him a new Children's Museum membership for his birthday he would be delighted. He certainly doesn't need more toys.)


I was totally caught off guard when Our Tree Named Steve made me cry. You wouldn't suspect it from the illustrations. It's such a sweet story though. The part that gets me is when the tree falls down in a storm, but spares the house and the swingset and the dog house.


Pete and Henry gave me this book for Mother's Day or my birthday a couple years ago. I had already heard in an NPR interview about how the publishers wanted Breathed to take out the part where the mother almost sacrifices herself for her child by giving him her space helmet. He wouldn't bow, of course, and it's the most important part of the story. Henry's used to me pausing during that part so that I can pull myself together again.

And this one! I read it to my students yesterday as part of a lesson on citizenship and compassion. I knew that the grandfather had a stroke and that the little boy was going to help him learn to walk again, but it still got me! Now I just warn the students ahead of time when I think a book might make me feel emotional...and then I hope for the best that I won't cause all of the kids in the class to have emotional trauma as well.

So there you go. If you're in need of a good cry, try out one of these books.