Rodger Podger

One of the most memorable childhood books my mom ever read to me was called something like “Rodger Podger’s Upside down Day”. I call it memorable not because the proper title stuck with me, (which it hasn’t) but because the drawings and the story line still lurk in the recesses of my mind. Rodger Podger was a bit confused when he woke up one morning to find everything he knew was suddenly upside down. Now, I have to admit, our leading guy handled it much better than I do, if I were to wake and find myself in an upside down world.

He has to figure out how to put his shirt on without upsetting anything, has to figure out how to walk without disturbing anything, and how to go about his day while navigating a completely upside down world. Granted his world, if I remember correctly, was limited to his house, but still, must have been rough on the guy. How do you go about explaining such an experience to, say, your family and friends who aren’t living with you? How do you convince others about the reality of what you experience, without sounding like a crazy person or without getting locked up, kicked out, or disciplined?

Thankfully for Rodger Podger, it was just one day. I imagine that if he lived upside down for weeks on end, it might start to wear on him; he might have become tired, discouraged, or less cheerful than he was on day one. At the end of the story Rodger Podger manages to get himself back into bed, without falling out (as the bed was also upside down) and goes to sleep, happy for the experience of an upside down day. Put yourself in RP’s shoes, can you imagine an upside down world?

It is funny how childhood books stick in your memory. I have no idea how old I was when I last heard of Rodger Podger’s day of adventure, but I still remember what he looked like. Books and stories were such an integral part of my childhood. I am so thankful to Mollie who has taken it upon herself to catalogue the books here and create an accessible library for the students. Lap reading, story time, and all those other important experiences have been missed by these children, but thanks to the donation of some neat books, and thanks to Mollie’s tireless efforts, I think we may make up for lost time. Rebekah has made it a possible for Mollie to come and do an intro to library speech in each of her classes, and the students are excited.

We three girls giggle at the lack of gender-differentiation/segregation in book choice; four high school boys are currently reading the “No Way Ballet” series together.Took us a few minutes to figure out why the boys were asking us about “No way ballot” , complaining that the title didn’t even make sense…

I guess the “No way Ballot” interpretation of the series title reflects life in a weird sort of way. Sometimes even stories, which have a guaranteed black and white ending, don’t make sense; most times life interactions, which are not black and white, fail to make sense.