Reading to My Kids

I love reading. I have loved reading since a young age when my Dad used to read to me. He read me Charlotte's Web when I was five, that is the first book I remember him reading to me. After Charlotte, he read more books to me. I always loved when my Dad read to me because he would make up voices for all the characters and would make them come alive for me, even when the book had no pictures. My favorite picture book he read to me was, "There's a Monster at the End of this Book." He always did the best Grover voice.

So, I always knew that I would read to my kids, and I secretly hoped that they would love books as much as I do. So, when Nicole was a baby, I tried to read to her often and take her to story time at the library and buy her books. Nicole really did take to books quite quickly.

She loves going to the library and picking out books and then taking them home to read. She will have me read the same books again and again and again.

At first, Dan was not interested in reading. He would sit for a couple of seconds while I was reading books and then he would go wild and start running around. But then, he started getting older and was able to say words and he started becoming more interested in books.

He has this one book. The book of 100 words, that has flaps in it that reveal words associated with a picture. He loves this book. Every time I get home from work, he brings this book to me to read. This was his gateway book. Now, he wants to read books every time he sees one lying on the ground. He is not that interested in paper books, but he loves board books. Dan even loves to bring a couple of books in his crib with him at night. A little light reading at bedtime.

I will continue to read to my children and hopefully, in not too long, they will be able to read for themselves. But, even when they begin to read for themselves, I will still read to them. Some of my fondest memories of my Dad were when he was reading me Harry Potter, Shel Sylverstein, or Judy Bloom books (the Judy Bloom books were hilarious to listen to him read). He would take us to used bookstores and buy us books and then read them with us and I want my kids to have those types of experiences too.

For now, it is board and picture books, but in the not too distant future, I will start Nicole on chapter books.