Letter Blocks

[#1]

Reading as a child is one thing.  Reading to a child? A different experience all together.  Every parent, I suspect, thinks that their delivery of any given book -- their voices and intonations and emphases -- is the right reading.  When I hear my husband read The Remarkable Farkle McBride to my daughter, I coach him in my mind.  No, that's not how Farkle would say that at all!    

But what really comes out in reading to our kids, beyond our inner-thespian, is what moves us.  Edward, a man not given to effusive displays of emotion, cried openly reading Stick Kid to Georgia.  Why? She wanted to know.  You'll see when you get older, he said.  [Because every kid leaves, he thought.]  I recently read The Lorax to both girls and couldn't stop myself from crying through the last perfect page. Why? they asked.  Why is this sad?  This funny book with colorful drawings and kooky rhymes. What is so sad about a dead Truffula Tree?  And that's where the real conversations of life begin...when you put the book down and try to explain...

Editor's Note: Kelly Corrigan is the bestselling author of The Middle Place. For more of Kelly's thoughts, please see her posts in our Unabashedly Bookish Blog.

Message Edited by PaulH on 06-04-2009 09:29 AM

[#2]

I read to my grandchildren all the time, especially at bedtime.  One of their favorites is Ladybug Baby Bug, by Janice and Mark Perkins.  It's an adorable book full of loveable ladybug characters and shows the importance of family.  In doing some research on the book before I bought it, I found that the authors give back a large portion of the sales to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank.  It's a wonderful story and is great at bedtime (you'll see why at the end of the book).  Reading to your children is a warm, wonderful introduction to the world of books.  So don't just read books, read to your children.  It'll do both of you good.

[#3]

I read to both of my boys... several books each week.  There are somedays - I will read 3-4 books.  They love stories and books. Some books are read over and over, while others are just read once.  My oldest is learning to read now and reads a lot more to me.  However, I still read books to him.  It is not only important for kids to be read to --- but to see adults reading; it completes the circle.  So yes I will admit it -  my boys are turning into full-fledged bibliophiles just like their mother.  Raising a reader starts with reading to them lots and is reinforced when they see you reading as well.