Let’s forget about what all the statistics say about how reading to your child early and often stimulates brain growth, improves oral and written language, and flat out makes your kid smarter. Think for a second about those peaceful stolen moments where wafts of shampooed tufts give way to dozing eyes and restful limbs tucked tightly beneath the covers. The crinkle of a dust jacket reveals an eye catching end paper and with a mere turn of the page you effortlessly enter story land.
Let’s back track…getting here wasn’t easy. First there was driving home from the train, that was late, to pick up the kids from after care. Or, perhaps it was doing the mad dash from hockey to ballet and piano only to arrive home to cook dinner and realize that you forgot to get milk at the store. Now your posse is halfway through homework, dinner is ready and the dog needs to go out. If only you had potty trained him too! Flash forward, you are sitting at the table, stomachs full and you're thinking about the presentation you need to finish or the laundry that needs folding or how desperately you’d like to just put your head down in what is left of your spaghetti and sleep. Finally, the kids are headed up for bath and bed and from the distance you hear a small cry….”Will you read to me??????” For some it is a welcomed request. For others it is the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard or pulling nose hairs. Have they no idea that a glass of red and Modern Family are eagerly awaiting your arrival in the living room?
It is such a simple request that often seems impossible to honor. Here’s the thing, it won’t be long before the requests are replaced by preteen noses buried deeply into a hormone titillating novel or staring wildly obsessed at a kindle. So carpe diem (or noctem), Modern Family can wait!
If your timing is like mine you are squinting through eyes that haven’t had enough Morning Joe yet or eyes that made the decision to have one more glass while you perused Facebook, and that may or may not have tipped the scales. Here’s what I will do: I am not going to promise to read my way through my public library but I will help you each week to discover great reads, grow closer to your children and live life, if even for a moment, through the pages of a storybook.
So follow me, one book at a time, and together we will explore the enchantment and beauty of children's literature.
So follow me, one book at a time, and together we will explore the enchantment and beauty of children's literature.
