Sergio re-reads Hop
When I was able to read, I used to read by myself. I liked the silence in my room, but at the same time enjoyed the noises coming from outside. In the weekend mornings I would hear trucks backing up, cars driving by. The noises reminded me of the tranquility of my room. The conflict of sounds and silence helped me concentrate on my book and notice the little details. I remember the cover: the dad is lying on his back while the kids (2) are jumping on his belly. I found it very humorous, especially because of the expression on his face. I would often try to imitate the face but failed miserably. The cover would make me think of my dad and how it would be to jump on his belly. I would usually jump on my bed after reading it as if it were someone’s stomach. I remember jumping as high as I could so I can get the most force when landing on the imaginary belly. There would be times when I stopped mid sentence and started jumping and times when I jumped after reading the book. The title was funny to me. Hop on Pop, sounded humorous and I remember making a popping sound when I read the word “Pop”. I would also put an emphasis on the “p” in “Hop”. I imagined when these kids jumped on their dad he would pop and disappear. It made me giggle every time.
I remember the yellow cover and how it made me think of daytime, which is why I would read it in the morning, but now the cover is white and green which takes away the effect. I would slide the long dark curtains and pull up the blinds and open the windows in order to get as much sunlight as possible. I remember the light splashing in the dark room and covering all the corners. I remember how the light reflected off the floor and how it made me squint in order to read the book. I remember wanting to paint the room a different color because the glossy eggshell color made the glare worse. Sometimes I would look around the room in order to rest my eyes from reading so much. I remember noticing the landscape lamp that was made to look like a house with a front yard. It made me wish I lived there so I could read out in the yard. While looking around I tried to avoid the linoleum floor due to its glare. There would be times when I'll look across the room to my brother’s bed hoping that he would come back home and read with me. I used to look at the cover of the book and imagine that the second child jumping was my brother and how fun it would be to jump with him. Not on our dad but on the bed. I remember times in the winter when I would open the window, which often made my mother mad because she would be freezing. That made me think of jumping on her too, which made me giggle more when reading the book because instead of “Pop” I would imagine the word “Mop”. I would put “Mop” instead of “mom” because it rhymed and at the time I always found something funny with rhyming. I also found humor with the sound of the word “Mop”. This was also before I knew what a mop was so I thought I was making up a word, which made me enjoy the book even more.
I would read the book over and over until the afternoon when it wasn’t as bright outside because I considered Hop on Pop a daytime book. In those cases I would stare at the cover for minutes and start jumping on the bed while thinking the words “Hop on Pop”. I would then wait until my dad came home and lay on his bed then I would run in his room and jump on the bed. I would laugh when he got upset because I would imagine the cartoonish facial expression on my dad’s face. Usually he would be upset but then my laughter and innocence would cheer him up. I remember thinking on how the book somehow made my dad and me closer, but at the time I didn’t understand how. The reading of the book made me wonder who was Dr. Seuss and if he used to hop on his pop. I wondered if he really was a doctor and if he was then why is he writing books instead of helping people? It would make me want to find this doctor and ask him a few questions.
When I was able to read, I used to read by myself. I liked the silence in my room, but at the same time enjoyed the noises coming from outside. In the weekend mornings I would hear trucks backing up, cars driving by. The noises reminded me of the tranquility of my room. The conflict of sounds and silence helped me concentrate on my book and notice the little details. I remember the cover: the dad is lying on his back while the kids (2) are jumping on his belly. I found it very humorous, especially because of the expression on his face. I would often try to imitate the face but failed miserably. The cover would make me think of my dad and how it would be to jump on his belly. I would usually jump on my bed after reading it as if it were someone’s stomach. I remember jumping as high as I could so I can get the most force when landing on the imaginary belly. There would be times when I stopped mid sentence and started jumping and times when I jumped after reading the book. The title was funny to me. Hop on Pop, sounded humorous and I remember making a popping sound when I read the word “Pop”. I would also put an emphasis on the “p” in “Hop”. I imagined when these kids jumped on their dad he would pop and disappear. It made me giggle every time.
I remember the yellow cover and how it made me think of daytime, which is why I would read it in the morning, but now the cover is white and green which takes away the effect. I would slide the long dark curtains and pull up the blinds and open the windows in order to get as much sunlight as possible. I remember the light splashing in the dark room and covering all the corners. I remember how the light reflected off the floor and how it made me squint in order to read the book. I remember wanting to paint the room a different color because the glossy eggshell color made the glare worse. Sometimes I would look around the room in order to rest my eyes from reading so much. I remember noticing the landscape lamp that was made to look like a house with a front yard. It made me wish I lived there so I could read out in the yard. While looking around I tried to avoid the linoleum floor due to its glare. There would be times when I'll look across the room to my brother’s bed hoping that he would come back home and read with me. I used to look at the cover of the book and imagine that the second child jumping was my brother and how fun it would be to jump with him. Not on our dad but on the bed. I remember times in the winter when I would open the window, which often made my mother mad because she would be freezing. That made me think of jumping on her too, which made me giggle more when reading the book because instead of “Pop” I would imagine the word “Mop”. I would put “Mop” instead of “mom” because it rhymed and at the time I always found something funny with rhyming. I also found humor with the sound of the word “Mop”. This was also before I knew what a mop was so I thought I was making up a word, which made me enjoy the book even more.
I would read the book over and over until the afternoon when it wasn’t as bright outside because I considered Hop on Pop a daytime book. In those cases I would stare at the cover for minutes and start jumping on the bed while thinking the words “Hop on Pop”. I would then wait until my dad came home and lay on his bed then I would run in his room and jump on the bed. I would laugh when he got upset because I would imagine the cartoonish facial expression on my dad’s face. Usually he would be upset but then my laughter and innocence would cheer him up. I remember thinking on how the book somehow made my dad and me closer, but at the time I didn’t understand how. The reading of the book made me wonder who was Dr. Seuss and if he used to hop on his pop. I wondered if he really was a doctor and if he was then why is he writing books instead of helping people? It would make me want to find this doctor and ask him a few questions.
