Sorry, I guess it's too late for you to do this now. I am trying to
catch up....

It's the birthday of Beverly Cleary (1916-2021), a very popular (and
long-lived!) American author of children's books.

She wrote a series of books about a little girl named Ramona Quimby, and
in one of them (published 1981), when Ramona is 8 years old, her teacher
says to the class:
"...every day after lunch we are going to sit at our desks and read
silently to ourselves any book we choose in the library."
And they didn't have to write a report on it!
The teacher called this "Drop Everything and Read" (DEAR).

The "sustained silent reading" was not Cleary's invention, or even based
on her own schooldays (though the Wiki article says that she did have
problems with reading in the early stages). It was her children who went
to schools where it was an established practice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Cleary

Ar an ceathrú lá déag de mí Aibreán, scríobh Ross Clark:

> [...] The "sustained silent reading" was not Cleary's invention, or even
> based on her own schooldays (though the Wiki article says that she did have
> problems with reading in the early stages). It was her children who went to
> schools where it was an established practice.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Cleary

I would have loved this, if I had free rein to read whatever I wanted. I would
be very very surprised if that were the case wherever this is implemented
currently (e.g. I remember a family friend wondering if the Godfather was
age-appropriate for me at 13 or so; my parents had no issue with this (they
likely understood I was already reading far beyond the age-directed reading
material) but I am certain your average teacher of pupils of that age would
have.)

--
‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’
(C. Moore)

On 15/04/2024 7:32 a.m., Aidan Kehoe wrote:
>
> Ar an ceathrú lá déag de mí Aibreán, scríobh Ross Clark:
>
> > [...] The "sustained silent reading" was not Cleary's invention, or even
> > based on her own schooldays (though the Wiki article says that she did have
> > problems with reading in the early stages). It was her children who went to
> > schools where it was an established practice.
> >
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Cleary
>
> I would have loved this, if I had free rein to read whatever I wanted. I would
> be very very surprised if that were the case wherever this is implemented
> currently (e.g. I remember a family friend wondering if the Godfather was
> age-appropriate for me at 13 or so; my parents had no issue with this (they
> likely understood I was already reading far beyond the age-directed reading
> material) but I am certain your average teacher of pupils of that age would
> have.)
>

The teacher says "...from the library", so that's where limitations
would have been imposed.

On 2024-04-14 10:38:24 +0000, Ross Clark said:

> Sorry, I guess it's too late for you to do this now. I am trying to
> catch up....
>
> It's the birthday of Beverly Cleary (1916-2021), a very popular (and
> long-lived!)

104, but not far off 105! I can't think of anyone else who lived that
long and is famous for something other than longevity.

> American author of children's books.
>
> She wrote a series of books about a little girl named Ramona Quimby,
> and in one of them (published 1981), when Ramona is 8 years old, her
> teacher says to the class:
> "...every day after lunch we are going to sit at our desks and read
> silently to ourselves any book we choose in the library."
> And they didn't have to write a report on it!
> The teacher called this "Drop Everything and Read" (DEAR).
>
> The "sustained silent reading" was not Cleary's invention, or even
> based on her own schooldays (though the Wiki article says that she did
> have problems with reading in the early stages). It was her children
> who went to schools where it was an established practice.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Cleary

--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 37 years; mainly
in England until 1987.

On 2024-04-14, Ross Clark wrote:

> Sorry, I guess it's too late for you to do this now. I am trying to
> catch up....
>
> It's the birthday of Beverly Cleary (1916-2021), a very popular (and
> long-lived!) American author of children's books.
>
> She wrote a series of books about a little girl named Ramona Quimby, and
> in one of them (published 1981), when Ramona is 8 years old, her teacher
> says to the class:
> "...every day after lunch we are going to sit at our desks and read
> silently to ourselves any book we choose in the library."
> And they didn't have to write a report on it!
> The teacher called this "Drop Everything and Read" (DEAR).

The Ramona books were hilarious.

--
Check that heavy metal
Underneath your hood

On 2024-04-16, Athel Cornish-Bowden <me@yahoo.com> wrote:

>> It's the birthday of Beverly Cleary (1916-2021), a very popular (and
>> long-lived!)
>
> 104, but not far off 105! I can't think of anyone else who lived that
> long and is famous for something other than longevity.

Johannes Heesters (1903-2011). Stage actor for 90 years, 87 in
front of cameras.

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de

On 2024-04-16 10:38:47 +0000, Christian Weisgerber said:

> On 2024-04-16, Athel Cornish-Bowden <me@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>> It's the birthday of Beverly Cleary (1916-2021), a very popular (and
>>> long-lived!)
>>
>> 104, but not far off 105! I can't think of anyone else who lived that
>> long and is famous for something other than longevity.
>
> Johannes Heesters (1903-2011). Stage actor for 90 years, 87 in
> front of cameras.

Yes, impressive, even if he was a buddy of Hitler.

--
Athel cb

On 16/04/2024 10:38 p.m., Christian Weisgerber wrote:
> On 2024-04-16, Athel Cornish-Bowden <me@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>> It's the birthday of Beverly Cleary (1916-2021), a very popular (and
>>> long-lived!)
>>
>> 104, but not far off 105! I can't think of anyone else who lived that
>> long and is famous for something other than longevity.
>
> Johannes Heesters (1903-2011). Stage actor for 90 years, 87 in
> front of cameras.
>

Hugues Cuénod, Swiss tenor (1902-2010).
"He holds the record as the oldest person to make a debut at the
Metropolitan Opera. He debuted as the Emperor Altoum in Giacomo
Puccini's Turandot on 12 March 1987 at the age of 84.He repeated the
role the following season for a total of 14 performances. His very last
appearance on stage was in 1994, aged 91, when he sang M. Triquet in
Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Théâtre du Jorat in Mézières."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugues_Cu%C3%A9nod