Favorite Children's Book...

Reading has always been a passion of mine, even when I was a younger. When I think about literature in my childhood one major author and book pops into my mind: Roald Dahl and The BFG. To this day The BFG ( The Big Friendly Giant) is one of my all time favorite books. I have read most of Roald Dahl's books but The BFG has always been my favorite. The dream world that he created stood out so vividly in my mind even as a kid. I loved the made-up words and all the different giants that were introduced throughout the story. Even the little illustrations that were intertwined into the pages helped me imagine the world that Roald Dahl set out to create for children. It was a challenging enough book to keep me going but not too hard that I felt lost or unable to keep up with the events of the story.
I remember reading the book in my fourth grade general education classroom and having to do a big book report project on it. It was the first book that I was really into reading and did not want to put it down. I also thought of it as a longer book, novel-like, back in fourth grade so I felt proud of myself for accomplishing the great task of actually reading a story cover to cover. I created a diorama that I thought represented a scene of the book and the main characters, such as Sophie and The BFG and presented it to the class. It was also the first time I was not nervous about being up in front of my peers giving a presentation. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was up in the front of the room talking about a book and a topic that I felt passionate about and knew what I was talking about.
I guess in a way I attribute The BFG as the reason why I love reading. It was the first book I actually liked to read in school, when before I wanted nothing to do with it. Today, reading is a huge part of my life and has actually inspired me to obtain a reading specialization along with my elementary education major. I want to share my love for reading with my students and open their eyes to a world of great books that they could possibly be missing. Most children see reading as "boring"or "not cool", but if someone can find a book, author, or genre that one really is interested in, it can open up eyes into a great literary world.