Is there such a thing has having too many books? Because Lord knows i love my Dad, but he thinks books are a big fat old waste of time ( boo to him, he's such a toad ). He'd much prefer to watch a movie or listen to music. I like both those things aswell, but i'd love to have even more books than i already have crammed into my tiny bookshelf. Just as i'm happy to watch my favourite films over and over again, so do i enjoy revisiting my favourite books.And i'm hoping to instill this love of books in Flynn. I have to say, he's already a bit of a book lover - he has at least 20 board books ( so he cant rip the pages! ) which are a mix of story books ( like " Spot Goes To The Beach " ) and educational books. And, even at the tender age of 15 months, he already has his favourites that he loves to have read over and over again. Flynn is quite happy to grab a book, climb up on someones lap ( usually mine or Micks ) and read a story. I try to be overly animated with my voice to keep him interested, exaggerating animal noises or putting extra oomph into that " Peekaboo! " or " Wow! "...
And i've found another small person who appreciates my reading skills - our nephew Curly ( who shall thus be named for his curly mop, and because i dont know whether his mum is big on me talking about him on the net ). On our last visit to Nannies house, Curly came over to visit too and sat down on Nannies lap and listened while i read Flynns all-time favourite book, " Elmo: Puppies " :
Its a cute little book, written in the style of the " Elmo's World " tv show ( Flynn looooooooves Elmo! ) and has lift-the-flaps. And, you guessed it, its all about puppies. Anyhoo, Flynn loves both Elmo and puppies so its no wonder this is his favourite book, and i think little Curly enjoyed it too. I got about halfway through and all of a sudden he's kicking his legs on Nannies lap and do his darndest to get out a "woof woof! ". He looked so excited and joyous i've been inspired. See, Curly turns one this weekend and rather than buy him some plastic toy he'll either never play with, that he'll grow tired of in a week, or that will break....Mick and I have decided to buy him some books. Funnily ( and sadly ) enough, his mum and dad dont strike me as the type to sit and read to him but just seeing his little face light up while listening to " Elmo:Puppies " I just know if theyre willing to take the time, he'll love some books for his birthday.
What about you? Do/did you read to your children regularly as babies and toddlers? Do you like to give books as gifts?
Well I bet you can guess what my answer will be. I have read to my boys from the moment they were born. I give books often. Ollie gets at least one story every night. Flynn would if he would sit still long enough, but he loves reading his books by himself, so he is definitely interested. I make sure that the boys see me read regularly too.
ReplyDeleteIda loves to read. I often find her sitting in her room next to her bookcase with a dozen books scattered around her. And then the excitment when she hands a book to me and I read it to her - her face lights up. Just lovely. I think books are wonderful gifts... they are such an easy gift to give, but still so fun to choose and recieve.
ReplyDeleteWe read a lot. I've always got a book in my hands, and so do the kids. David isn't much of a reader. He'll read a magazine and the occasional newspaper article, but that's pretty much as far as it goes. Claire has one favorite book called How Does A Dinosaur Eat All His Food? It isn't a board book, and we've read it so much that the other day, I actually had to tape it back together. She loves it though. She thinks it's hysterical. She also loves books by Mo Willems. Especially What's Your Sound Hound The Hound? He's a wonderful children's author.
ReplyDeleteI think instilling a love of reading in your kids is the best gift you can give them. If they love reading they will never be bored.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any kids (yet...watch this space!) but when I do I am gonna be reading to them every day that I can. I have been slowly buying kids books over the last 5 years or so, whenever I see a good one or one on special (I tell my husband I have to buy them now coz when we have kids I prob won't be able to afford them! Lol!), in the hopes that I'll have a kid that loves reading. Fingers crossed hey!
Oh, and you can NEVER have enough books!