Like Father, Like Son

For those who Clinton and his LOVE of reading and know Benjamin and his LOVE of reading, you would say "like father, like son". You would never have thought that Benjamin didn't like to read when he was in 3rd grade or even younger. He needed additional help when it came to reading. In 3rd grade, it was a challenge to get him to read and take the required Accelerated Reader (AR) Tests. When Benjamin was in 4th grade, it finally hit. He developed a LOVE for reading.

Over the past few years, he has become much more of an avid reader, a book worm. The thing about Benjamin is that he loves reading books "he" wants to read. It was more of a struggle in 5th and 6th grade when he was on a "Battle of the Books" team. He and three or four friends had agreed to read certain books off of a selection list. They had to know about the stories, the title, and the author when competing. It wasn't his favorite thing to do, but he did it. He said that everyone would want him to be on their team because of his love of reading. I don't think his friends ever saw him without a book in his free time. They got a kick out of his laugh when he would be reading because he would laugh out loud. What he didn't like being on those teams, was having to read required books from the selection list, and not books of his own genre preference.

Now that Benjamin is in 7th grade, he doesn't have to read books and take tests on them, but instead, he has to read a total of 25 books this school year. He has to read books in various categories, which again, makes it less desirable, but it doesn't stop him from reading. The book he is currently reading is "Lord Brocktree" by Brian Jacques. It is a book from the Redwall series. Benjamin loves reading fantasy and fiction books, especially books that are in a series. There are various books that he is waiting to read once they are published. It kills him to wait for books.

I love that boy! I love that he has a passion and love for reading. Hopefully, that passion can carry him far with other studies in school.