C’s been reading Bridge to Terabithia this week. When we rearranged the rooms and got him the IKEA shelf I started to gather the kids’ novels from around the house and put them in there. I was hoping he would be curious and check them out and it’s working, he’s browsing and reading. We’re trying to mostly collect books we read as kids and enjoyed so they’re somewhat classics. 🙂 But that’s one he picked up, which surprised me, and he’s been carrying it with him everywhere because he was so caught up in it.

I, however, was experiencing conflicting feelings because I know how it ends! And he’s been exposed to sad stories before but this was the first time he was so caught up in a book on his own and I knew what was coming and I knew it would break his heart and I didn’t feel it appropriate to warn him but I was trying to stay close to see how he handled it. He was really absorbed, laughing aloud at the funny parts and asking questions about words he didn’t know…

Well, it was obvious when he hit the sad part of the story! Oh, so heartbreaking… he said, “I got a little emotional at the tragic part.” I said I did, too, I cried – he said, “Me, too.” And then as he read further it was even more tragic, he was just weeping and having to stop reading and he said, “I wish the author wasn’t so good with emotions.”

C’s such an empathetic kid with such a big heart, he feels passionately and loves fiercely and has this huge imagination so I know characters live for him. It was sad for me to witness him falling in love with the characters knowing about the impending doom but it was also good, I think, for him to experience this big range of emotions. I think he would agree the happy parts outweigh the sad parts and he’s glad he read it? And I’m glad we were here to talk it through with him.