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Oakville Place (lower Level by Sears) JOIN THE CNUTIT Book Club ‘ SMITHBOOKS 1 _Free membership for Children. Discounts, newsletters and more. Smitty Book Club Book Bag $2.99 for members And how the kids would call me awful names â€" you know, the really awful things you call someâ€" body you don‘t like â€" as they‘d chase me along the snowy streets. Now, I really love Calvin and Hobbes, and I always laugh when I see Calvin hurling yet another icy ball. But in the back of my mind is the memory of how it felt when snow smushed against the back of my head on the way home from school. Instead of feeling powerful and capable and brilâ€" liant and courageous â€" as if I could nearly fly â€" I felt awkward and stupid and ugly. My feet were suddenly too big. And nobody liked me. I‘m not kidding. That year, my very best friend since Kindergarten became, overnight, my worst enemy. We had an argument that escalated â€" just like an escalator â€" from a tiny quarrel in the baseâ€" ment to a huge, topâ€"storey fight. And before I knew it, we weren‘t speaking. That was in February, and there was still lots of snow, more than enough for packing hard snowballs of the kind Calvin likes to throw at Suzie Derkin in the comic strips. hen I was a little kid, I could hardly wait to turn 10 since that‘s how old I believed Peter Pan to be. And he, after all, could fly. Being 10 was wonderful, even though by then I knew Peter Pan wasn‘t real and there was no chance of my flying. The only thing wrong was that far too soon 10 gave way to 11. And the next day in the school playground, he said to the other kids, "Don‘t speak to her." Within a few days, everyone in our class was on his side. It was as if they were all metal filings, and he had a stronger magnet in his pocket than I did. Being 11 wasn‘t at all the same. In fact, it was terrible. Take 5 Read is part of a program sponsored by Frontier College in Toronto, the Oakville Beaver and corporate citizens concerned about the literacy of our young people. Over the next few months, the Beaver will publish stories by Canadian authors that can be read in 5 minutes. We urge all parents to sit down with their children and read these articles as they appear. It is widely acknowledged that making reading an important part of every day with your child can have many lifelong learning benefits. This month‘s reading tip is intended to help you and your child get the most from each shared reading experience. READING TIP #1: 15 minutes a day is all it takes... Sharing reading time at home with your child for as little as 15 minutes a day And how lonely I felt. Reading Tip #1: All it takes is 15 minutes a day It‘s not always easy being a kid 245 LAKESHORE ROAD EAST, OAKVILLE TELEPHONE 905 844â€"5363 @p riaxor ms cror 7 1O V S B 0 0 K S Children‘s books Educational Toys Games Puzzles Science Activities Loot Bags Goodies Tapes Videos Miraculously â€" or maybe, predictably â€" when we all came together again in September, everyone acted as if nothing had happened. My best friend and I were never friends again, but all the others went back to being themselves. And since being 12 was so much easier than being 11, I started to look forward to 13, which might be even better. And it was. Of course, winter melted into spring and the snow balls stopped, but not the nameâ€"calling. Nor did the game of "not speaking", which went right on through the season of crocuses and tulips to the very last day of school in June. Many years have passed since that terrible winter sie e ie oke oi ae o e ie ie can help to instill an appreciation and love of reading in your child. For starters, your child‘s teacher will support your desire to surround your child with good reading experiences outside of school. It‘s also a great way to enjoy quiet times together away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and there‘s an added benefit for your: situating daily reading time strategically close to bedtime can help to calm your child down after a hard day of frantic play... J‘s "The Quest Booksellers 123 TrafaI%ar Rd Oakvill $49â€"6244 signing her new book... Wed.,Oct 19th 12:30 to 1:30 pm That Counts That sometimes kids pick on other kids for no good reason at all â€" or for reasons that don‘t have much to do with who you really are. And there‘s probably not much you can do about it except laugh at how peculiar human beings are. Or, you can do what I‘ve done: you can write stoâ€" ries about it. Well, she‘s right, we are still friends. And I supâ€" pose it doesn‘t really matter whether she remembers or not. As the years continue to roll by, I will, no doubt, forget too. I only wish I‘d known then what I know now. A few months ago, at a reunion of several childâ€" hood chums, the evening was spent talking about the past, the way that middleâ€"aged people like to do. There was lots of laughter, lots of funny stories, and happy memories. But eventually, I felt compelled to bring up the time they‘d all shunned me. Being older and braver at 50, I was sure I could handle whatever they told me. "Don‘t be silly," one woman said. "We‘re still friends now, aren‘t we?" â€" so many that I‘m half a century old. Old enough, indeed, to know that I should have turned around and tried to get even the way plucky little Suzie Derkin would. Why, I asked, had nobody been on my side? Had I really deserved to be treated that way? And do you know what? No one could remember not speaking to me. Then, as I began to describe that winter, and some of the names they‘d called me, memories began to surface. "Oh yeah," they said. "We were really mean, weren‘t we? But we didn‘t mean it." "But you did," I said. "You said you hated me. You were horrible. You all ganged up and didn‘t speak to me." But even wimpy kids like me survive to tell the tale â€" and here‘s the really interesting part. smmH C JC 8 Oakville Town Centre II Dorval Dr. North Service Rd.