first book report

Sunny began her school day today by saying that she wanted to do a book report. What am I going to say that that? No?

She started off by pretty much quoting the first line of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and I told her she had to SUMMARIZE - put it in her own words. But she HAD put it in her own words. The book says, "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of Number Four Privet Drive" and she said, "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley lived at Number Four Privet Drive."

Seriously, that's how she explained it to me. Her precision and steel-trap memory are phenomenal, and sometimes make me laugh, and sometimes are a little exasperating. So I prompted her by beginning some sentences - "Harry lived with his aunt and uncle and they ..." and "He went to school at ..." and she finished them, and that got her rolling.

Here's her book report that she dictated to me (including the punctuation) and I wrote down:

BOOK REPORT ON HARRY POTTER
Harry escaped Lord Voldemort when he was just a baby. He went to live with his aunt and uncle and cousin, Dudley. When Uncle Vernon had enough of the owls, he took everyone away from the house and he found a perfect place: the hut on the rock. But a giant came. His name was Hagrid. He brought an owl with him, and he flew on Sirius Black's motorcycle. He took Harry to Diagon Alley, where Harry learned he was a wizard. He got an owl named Hedwig at Eeylops Owl Emporium. On the train to Hogwarts, he met three friends - Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom. Everyone but the Slytherins were his friends. The headmaster was Albus Dumbledore. To find out his full name, read the chapter "The Hearing" in Book 5.