Do you think back to your childhood with fond memories of your favorite books? I certainly do. My mom tells me that when I was very young I could not get enough of Green Eggs and Ham. I was saying all the words along with her as she read, even before I could read. In my pre-teen years, I saved what little allowance or gift type of money that I received to subscribe to a book delivery service. This was long before e-books were a thing. I was so anxious to receive my book club books each month! The Sweet Valley High series was a favorite back then.
More than
anything though, some of my best childhood memories are of reading to my
younger brothers. When they were very
small, I read Dr. Seuss books to them. Another favorite was The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree. I would read with great suspense in my voice
as I asked, “Do we dare go up those spooky old stairs?” They would giggle and shout back, “Yes, we
dare!" As they got a little older
(elementary school age to my junior high school age) I read several ‘Choose your
own Adventure’ series to them. They
would each sit on either side of me as I read the story. When we got to a
decision page, they had to talk it out and reach a decision together. It was so
cute watching a little six year old and nine year old justify their reasons to
each other for why we just had to do
the action that they were choosing.
As a big
sister, even though they are now grown men in their 30s, they will always be
the little six and nine year old boys to me. So eager to hear what happens next
in the story. Where would our childhood
memories have gone without books? I can’t
imagine if I had to think back fondly to those great times when I stared at the
back of their heads as they watched TV or played video games. What!? No. As a soon to be new mom, I can’t wait to
start reading to my baby boy like my mom read to me.
I’m
writing this today as a reminder to parents and teachers. Parents, books can
take your child’s imagination to magical places. Journey with them there and
make memories that you both will cherish for the rest of your lives. Teachers, encourage parents to read at home
with their children. Feel free to distribute the free read at home flyer that I
made. Trust me, you want your students
to read at home. Their fluency and comprehension skills will go through the
roof. I was a reading teacher’s dream. (Thanks mom!)
As I mentioned,
the flyer is free. It is available in my TPT store. You do need to be a member
to download it but no worries. If you need to sign up that is easy and free
too.
You can also find several more tips in The Literary Maven's, Page Turners: "Fostering a Love of Reading" blog post.
Happy Reading!
