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Splish, Splash: The Story of a Book and a Bath A Review of Naked Reading: Uncovering What Tweens Need to Become Lifelong Readers [Lesesne, Teri S. Naked Reading: Uncovering What Tlveens Need to Become Lifelong Readers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2006. 118 pp. US $19.00.]
Who would have thought that the pink hotel would have a bathtub two feet deep? It was a wonderful surprise to discover this capacious basin when I arrived late on a Wednesday night after an interminable summer plane ride and a trip in a rented car through an awardwinning rain storm. I could not resist the potential pleasures the petite pool presented and, as the young teachers in the room next to mine were relaxing to some rather loud heavy metal music, floating in a warm bath seemed like the right way to prepare for sleep. I had brought with me a book I was to read and review and, as it is my habit to read and do really deep thinking in the bathtub, everything seemed right for the occasion. The book in question, Naked Reading: Uncovering What Tvjeens Need to Become Lifelong Readers by Teri Lesesne, begins with the author's confession that she spends extra time in the bathroom reading books in uninterrupted quietude and that her granddaughter does the same after her bath. In this delicious tub, I would be in the proper place to peruse Naked Reading.
The inn provided a jar of fragrant bath salts, and I added a few dollops of these to the warm water along with some of the contents of the small bottle of shower gel displayed on the counter top across from the tub. Soft bubbles received my body as I slid into this pint-sized yet pungent pond. I held the book aloft as I leaned back in the gently lapping water. Then I positioned the book on a hand towel that I had prepared for the purpose on the generous lip of the tub. After a moment of peaceful meditation on the pleasures of my present position, I opened the book and began to read.
I read this book in two ways. I read as a middle school teacher might who served in public school classrooms for thirty-eight years and...