Last year the girls discovered the "Junie B. Jones" books.
This summer they graduated to Beverly Cleary and are smitten with sisters Beezus and Ramona. Last library visit, they found "Ramona Forever" on audio CD, and now a new element has been added to their "book discussions". In addition to regaling each other with favorite parts of the story, they've become enamored with the narration style of the reader, who happens to be actress Stockard Channing.
I have listened with them and their fascination escapes me. I don't have anything against Stockard Channing, I just find her voice rather .....unfascinating. But the girls hang on every nuance of every syllable. In fact today's lunchtime was largely spent debating the correct tone and inflection of one word.
Here's how the conversation unfolded:
Peanut: Sissy, wasn't it funny in Ramona Forever when Ramona was at the doctor and the doctor asked her how she felt, and Ramona said, " I feel just awful". I love how she said 'awful'.
Sissy: Yeah, "awful".
Peanut: No, it wasn't like that, it was like (with a little less drawl) ....'AHful'.
Sissy: No, it was like.....(significantly shortens the first syllable) ....'ahful'.
Peanut: "AHful".
Sissy: "ahful".
Peanut: No Sissy, you're not doing it right.
Sissy: Yes I am!
Peanut: "awful"
Sissy: "awful"
They make their voices deeper, then more stuffy then they slightly change the emphasis. They keep going, tweaking the pronunciation with differences too subtle for my unrefined ear to catch.
"Offle". "OFFle". "AUphul. "auphul". "Awful". "Awful". "Awful.
"Awful". "Awful"............................. "Awful"
This is followed by 30 seconds of blessed silence, then ......
Peanut: When Stockard Channing does it she sounds like this......"awful".
Sissy: "awful"
Peanut: I sound just like Stockard Channing......"awful".
Sissy: No, I sound just like her.....listen ......"awful".
Peanut: "awful"
Sissy: "awful"
Peanut: "awful"
Sissy: "awful"
Conversation mercifully turns to another subject for a few minutes, then Peanut takes a bite of her sandwich.
Peanut: Hey, how come this baloney tastes so bad?
Sissy: shrugs her shoulders
Peanut: (taking another bite).....It tastes awful!
Sissy: (in her best Stockard Channing voice).... you mean "awful"!!
They crack up laughing and the remainder of the conversation is filled with phrases like......."Hubbabubba Bubbahubba" and "Glop".
One of these days I swear I'm going to be taken away in a straitjacket.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
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2 comments:
That "awful" story was so funny! I can just imagine sitting there listening to them.
I grew up on Beverly Cleary books -- I loved Beezus and Ramona! I didn't know kids still read that.
Imagine listening to the same adventures in Odyssey's over and over again, and they don't seem to ever tired of them. They just argue about who gets to pick which episodes at lunchtime. They say,"I claim the radio!" The thing is that they tend to cling to the same ones.
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