Brian Selznick mentioned FORTUNATELY by Remy Charlip during his Caldecott speech and the mention of the title swept me away to high school. I had “Teacher Prep” during my senior year. We visited the local school, Briar Patch Elementary, and helped a teacher for our class credits.
One day my teacher asked me to select a book to read aloud to the entire class. This was a big responsibility for this seventeen year old. After much careful consideration, I selected FORTUNATELY. It was the first book I ever read aloud to a group of first grade students. It’s a terrific book so the kids sat spellbound as I read. I was a huge success or at least I felt like one.
Brian’s mention of this book is sure to bring it to the attention of some folks who have never heard of it and others, like me, will enjoy reminiscing about their past encounters with the book.
