The Shootout

An Aspen school teacher put my book into her weekly book “shootout”. The idea is that 2 books are read to the kids and they get to vote on their favorite one. Then that winner goes on to the next week and is read against another book. My book “Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” www.jerrybegly.com/tooth.beat out 3 books, including “Stone Soup”. But when “Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” went up against “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, I got knocked out. I told the teacher, “The GRINCH? Why didn’t you just throw me to the lions?” I was thrilled to be shot down by Dr. Seuss. The only thing better than that would be to get shot down by Snoopy on his doghouse.

The Best Kind of Book

What kind of children’s book do you like to read? Dr. Seuss. I Spy. Richard Scary. Sandra Boynton. Those are all favorites of mine. I like cartoons. Long drawn out verbiage bores me and my kids. Yes, chapter books are just fine as the kids grow a little older. I like color, and surprises. Books where the child goes to sleep at the end of the book are too predictable and trite. The only exception to that is Dr. Seuss’s “The Sleep Book”. Watching all of those crazy little creatures yawn make me yawn when I read it. Just writing about it makes me want to yawn right now.

On a Softer Note…

As stated previously, my wife has been a huge influence on our children with her reading. What’s really nice is that she’s such a good reader, that I too enjoy just lying there listening to her read. On car trips, she can hardly put a book down because the kids and I want her to keep on reading. She is trained in Classical and Opera music, and comes with all of the voice classes and coaching that that entails. Her voice is so smooth and mesmerizing that everyone loves it. You might not have that kind of a voice. Maybe you sound more like Peter Faulk (Colombo). But in the classic movie “Princess Bride”, Faulk reads a book to his grandson the entire movie. His character and voice are absolutely fantastic. You probably fall somewhere between Peter Faulk and my wife. So grab a book and read to your little one. You’ll both love it.

Let’s Get Back on Track!

Yikes! I’ve been having great fun talking about my job as a cave tour guide. But back to the reason for the Bloggathon 2010. I’m celebrating National Children’s Book Week www.bookweekonline.com because I’ve written a children’s book and because I really believe in reading to kids. I’ve done readings in 3 libraries in the past few weeks, and the kids and parents both are entertained by “Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” www.jerrybegly.com/tooth.

World Record Ride

So my cave tour group is standing outside looking at our new monster swing called The Swing Shot. It’s going to open by Memorial Day weekend. Suddenly the thing takes off, sending the seats that you would ride in out over the cliff 1300 ft. above the Colorado River and returning after a 240 degree pendulum. Wow. It took our breath away just watching it. Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park www.glenwoodcaverns.com is going for the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest swing. I absolutely guarantee that it is going to give its riders one of the biggest thrills of their lives.