As I was heading down the stairs, Isabelle was walking up, her nose in a book. I smiled, remembering that she was not always so keen on reading. We were the only two in the stairwell.
“Wow Isabelle, what’s got your attention there?” I asked.
“Well, I just started it.” She must have been coming back from the library when we saw each other.
“What book?”
“Spirit Animals, but it’s the second. I really need the first one. It wasn’t in the library.”
“Guess what my friend? I think I have a copy of it in my classroom.” I said to her.
“You DO?” Isabelle looked up from the book as I continued.
“I think so. Let’s go look quickly. I bet it’s I.R. time in your reading group and I hate for you to miss much of that.”
We hurried down the stairs together, into my room, and straight for the bookshelves. Sure enough, there is was in the basket where I thought I’d last seen it.
“Oh my gosh thank you. Can I borrow it?”
“Yes of course.”
“Can I even take it home tonight?”
“Definitely. You can take it wherever you want for as long as you wish.”
Isabelle beamed as she scurried out of my room and back up the stairs.
I beamed as I thought about how great it feels to put a book in an excited reader’s hands.
Reading, Writing and Learning 
What a beautiful moment you captured! Great dialogue and ending line!
I had a similar moment at the end of today, when four or five kids asked to take their writing home and finish it. Yay for my writers!
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A wonderful moment conveyed beautifully. Nothing better as a reading teacher to see the love of reading.
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This student will never forget this experience and it will make her love books even more. It reminds me how we should also read the books our students are reading, so we can talk to them about the stories or recommend books to them.
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Haha! Love your hook, Lisa — a list with a twist as they called it at TC. And you made a real, positive connection with a student. Moments like that are the most fulfilling part of teaching.
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I, too, smiled reading this. That is one of my favorite teacher moments! Even better when you finally figure out a book that is “just right” for a typically reluctant reader. Thanks for sharing this super positive, uplifting slice with a fellow book lover/reader/ELA teacher! 🙂
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Your last lines are always great. Love the image of the two of you beaming.
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Nothing beats the feeling of connecting a reader with a book! 🙂
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“I beamed as I thought about how great it feels to put a book in an excited reader’s hands.”…also when you can find it when you know you have it. Great feelings to end this piece.
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I had to stop by since serendipity is one of my favorite words! And what fun to read this bookish slice of serendipity. I love how the stars aligned so you could fulfill this student’s wish for the first book in the series.
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Such a great moment! And a new reader!! My 8-year-old recently discovered Spirit Animals and, while he doesn’t quite have the skills to read it on his own yet (hello, dyslexia), the story is also wonderful on audiobook. So glad you had that book in your basket!
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When a reader finds a book s/he wants to read, and when you can put that book into her hands, well, that’s bliss for sure.
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Lisa,
So true. To fill a student’s reading needs with the right book at the right time. Amazing feeling! 🙂
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This is my goal every day as a librarian, too. It’s the best feeling, isn’t it, when you connect the right book with the reader? Especially those reluctant students. I had one yesterday that was really disappointed that the Diary of a Wimpy Kid she wanted wasn’t on the shelf. After several other suggestions for humorous reading, she agreed to take two Bad Guys books….fingers crossed they fit the bill.
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