About two months ago my third grader finished reading the first Harry Potter. For a kid who has struggled to sit down and commit to a "real" book, this was a big accomplishment for him. He was encompassed with all things Harry simply by the joy of reading such a wonderful book and being moved by each and every word.
His fascination wasn't just with the book though, he was intrigued by J.K. Rowling as a person. Lucky for him he had to do an oral report on a biography of someone famous and decided to dress up like Harry and present the creative author behind the character. Around the same time my 6th grader was doing an assignment where he had to write a letter to a famous person or business. A light switched on in Ben's face and he announced he was going to write a letter to J.K. Rowling. About 15 minutes later he handed me a perfectly handwritten letter that told the author how happy he was to read her book and how much he liked it. We googled where to send it and off it went.
Jump ahead to today when I opened the mailbox and pulled out an envelope from Scholastic Publishing addressed to Ben. It took me a few seconds to figure it out, but when I did, Ben came running. How thrilling for a 9 year old to realize his letter had been read by someone and responded to. I had already talked to him about the volume of mail she must get and he certainly wasn't expecting a hand-written note from her, but any response was enough for him. Inside the envelope was a photograph of the author and a wonderful letter that apologized for not being able to respond personally to each and every letter sent. He was thrilled. What a wonderful experience for a child to know his words and thoughts matter and grownups will listen and respond.
He tucked it all away in his backpack to show his class on Monday. After that he said it will hang in a place of honor on his bulletin board.
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