A hopeful reading list

I'm studying to become an elementary teacher. I would feel incredibly guilty teaching children to read and love reading when I have put it on the back burner myself. I have a million excuses but the famous "I just don't have time" seems to pop up in my mind most often. I have this goal to read a whole list of Newbery Medal and Honor awarded books. I collect them (mostly from D.I.) and they are beautiful books. The feeling of buying a great find and adding it to my collection is something I always look forward to. I've read many of them but gosh those ones I haven't read have made me feel guilty.

Last semester I had a really great teacher who put the greatest emphasis on how important it is to read to children. We hear that all the time but it really stuck with me this time around. It's not just important for us to read to children but for us as adults to read and indulge in a creative and imaginative life other than our own. So. My goal for now until ever. I want to always have a book started and on my night stand. Currently The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle is open and waiting for me to finish the last chapter. 

 Currently reading and almost done!

One of my favorites! I love any book with talking animals.

Here is my list of books I'd love to read before graduation (in three semesters!! whhaa!).

A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck

Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff 

Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman 

The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville

Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska 

Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate  by Jacqueline Kelly