365 Days of Wonder

365 Days of Wonder:  Mr. Browne’s book of Precepts by R. J. Palacio                             Hardback Book: 480 pages                      

The story of Auggie Pullman may be fiction but all of the quotes or as Auggie’s 5^th grade teacher, Mr. Browne, terms them, “Precepts,” are those of real people.    The definition of precept is – a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.    I grew up with the terms: quotes, quotable quotes or simply put words to live by.    Wise sayings that one could apply to their own life to better themselves, their outlook and therefore their circumstances.   In the book and film, “Wonder” we are introduced to Mr. Browne, a teacher who cares about his students and who cares about making them better people, too, by impressing positive affirmations upon them during class and discussing each “precept” as they come up so that the class can fully grasp the concepts they convey.    In this book,   Mr. Browne has asked all of his students (current and former)  to send him precepts they learn or come up with on their own over the summer so that the kids are still thinking in positive terms and looking for ways to choose kindness before choosing rightness as the precept from Dr. Dwayne Dyer says.     This book is the collection of the best of the precepts Mr. Browne has collected from his own studies and from his students.    They are really uplifting and would make a great book of brilliant concepts for any class or any one for that matter.    I enjoyed reading and pondering each entry and I wish this book would become part of the standard curriculums in school.      Good book.

365 Days Of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book Of Precepts

365 Days Of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book Of Precepts by R. J. Palacio      432 pages

This is a book inspired by the book, Wonder, by this author.  The book is really a list of precepts, supposedly collected by Mr. Browne from his fifth grade students over a period of years.  He chose 365 of them, one for each day of the year, and used those to create a book.  At the end of each month he has a couple of pages where he tells a story about some of his teaching experiences and his students.  Some of these stories are about the characters in Wonder, but some are not.  The book is really intended to be read one day at a time, for a year, I think, and to reflect on the precept for that day.  Some of the precepts are quoted from famous people and some are ones that the kids made up themselves.  Overall it’s an interesting book and kids who read Wonder will probably like it, as will kids who like inspirational stories, like the Chicken Soup For The Soul series.