The Letter "OO"

On Friday, I got called back in to sub.  I was still working with kindergarten age children, but I was at the British Foreign School.  I found out that this didn't necessarily mean that I had all British students, but the school is run on the British curriculum.  As I was conducting one on one reading sessions, the array of accents that I encountered were so amusing and adorable.  However, the accent that completely took the prize for over-the-top cuteness came from a little boy named Andre, who I can only is some sort of Eastern European.

As he pulled out his readers, I asked him which book he wanted to read to me first, so he proceeded to show me by placing one at the top of the pile and pointing to it.  He said to me, "This is the letter 'oo'".  Now, I was slightly thrown off because on the cover of the book, there was a big capital 'U', but who was I to be discouraging to a burgeoning young reader?  I nodded affirmingly and let him proceed.  He turned to the first page, and there was a picture of big yellow umbrella on the page along with the word 'umbrella' neatly printed out directly underneath.  He said to me, "This is 'oo' for 'oombrella'."  He looked at the picture of undergarments on the next page and said, "This is 'oo' for 'oonderwear'."  Then he turned to the next page with the picture of a boy standing on his head and said, "This is 'oo' for 'oopsidedown'."  HAHAHA!  Now at this point, I nearly lost it because it was both too hilarious and too cute for words, but he was reading with so much confidence and assurance that I didn't even dare crack a smile in his direction.  He basically proceeded to plow through the rest of the book, reading all the words that began with the letter 'oo'.

I do love reading in general, but I don't often get read to.  Who knew it could be so enjoyable as an adult?  I can honestly say that this is the most fun that I've had reading in a long time.  Thank God for kids -- they are one of my true joys in life.