A Little About My Family and Myself
I am a retired widow and do not live close to my children, but we remain in close loving contact. We have lived in varied states and locations, but we have always been a "Book Family" and were frequent library visitors no matter where we resided.
A favorite picture book from my childhood
The book I remember best from my childhood is Peter and the Wolf, which was the first library book I ever was allowed to check out. I was very proud to do this and felt "grown-up."
What I Did:
I started reading to my oldest child when she was only 3 months old, but I wanted her to love books. She got her first introduction to Mother Goose then. I was always enthusiastic about reading to her and, later, to her younger sister. I enjoyed sharing some of my "old" saved picture books, such as Gigi, A Merry Go Round Horse, and the girls loved and enjoyed them as much as I did.
How I Did It:
Both my children loved being read to and when they were very young, they had favorites, such as My Teddy Bear (a Little Golden Book), Dr. Seuss' The Starbelly Sneetches and others. (Indeed, they wanted to have these books read to them so frequently that they learned the text by heart and complained rather loudly when parts were "left out" by a tired Mommy or Daddy.)
The girls always enjoyed picture books and they were a great "lead-ins" for older children's books like Harriet the Spy and the Ramona books, among other favorites. As a family, we enjoyed special times when we read aloud books like Treasure Island and other well-loved classics.
Lessons Learned
- Reading and showing picture books to my children when they were very young conveyed to them my love of books and so they were anxious to enjoy what I enjoyed and could share with them.
- I feel it is so important to always have books for children to read and parents to share with them.
- Having books in their homes and being read to by their parents is an experience that children can learn from and put to use in their own future lives.
- It helped us bond as a family and my children still remember the warm family times we had when we were all together with a good book.
