Both of my children absolutely love to read.
Unfortunately only one of them actually can read.
But that's where bedtime stories by mom and dad come in.
We have a family tradition around our house where bedtime, the time when dreams and imagination take over our minds, starts off with not children watching television, but rather reading a book.
Each night the boys take turns picking out a book to be read to then. Often times they choose the same books, favorites that we read over and over again, always igniting the same smiles and laughter. Sometimes Brayden reads the night time story to his brother and his father and I, a book on loan for the evening from the school. But each night is always the same as the events of the day commence with a book read cover to cover.
Brayden curls up in his bed with a book and digests every single little word while Gage happily flips through to pages and admires the colorful pictures while listening intently.
It makes my heart soar to have two children who have a love and appreciation of books in a media driven electronic world. Reading and comprehending words and coming up with vivid mental scenarios allows their budding imaginations to soar like kites on a windy day. And so we add to our home library often, choosing special and significant books.
Brayden's favorites include:
The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
Harold and the Purple Crayon - Crockett Johnson
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst
Gage's favorites include:
The Little Engine That Could - Watty Piper
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
The Foot Book - Dr Seuss
Do you read to your little ones? What are your families favorite books?
Aw, we always do bedtime stories, too. That's the best part of the night, I think!
ReplyDeleteCurrently, my kids request the same book: Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems (we have a copy, personalized to the girls with a Knuffle bunny sketch by Mo himself!). My kids pretty much have it memorized we read it so much!!
I won't claim that my kids don't watch TV (they probably watch too much), but I love that both are avid book readers. We read all day long, not just at night before bed. We have so many books it's not even funny. Both have clear opinions about what they want to read each night and it never seems to be the same. Merrick's favorite right now is The Adventures of Max the Minnow and Amelia is on another Pinkalicious kick.
ReplyDeleteWe love finding new wonderful books to read to our 3 year old. The 11 month old only likes to eat the books for now. Some of our favorites include: Lama Lama Red Pajama, Pete & Pickles, and Where the Wild Things are. If you haven't read Pete & Pickles yet, you need to, a very wonderful story with amazing illustrations.
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