I just came across this poem at
poemhunter.com and it brought back some childhood memories. In honor of the smile it brought to my face, I want to mention what I love about reading to my boys.
I enjoy children's books- all kinds. For those that know me, I always was a bookworm and still enjoy reading. I think that books enhance kids' vocabulary and broadens their mind. I'm not a fancy psychologist or an expert in these areas, but I see that my kids sometimes learn the most fascinating things from books.
So which books do I like? ANYTHING! Of course anything that moves- trucks, trains, boats are a favorite with the boys, and if it has a rocket ship or a fire truck then we're really in for a treat (and loads of questions!). But we also like real stories and rhyming stories, pop-ups and repetitiveness, long books and short books, people and animals, you name it. There are some classics that I remember as a kid, like
The Giving Tree and
Caps for Sale, and now my kids share them as memories. Others, like
I Spy and
My Peekaboo Book, are great because they're interactive. There are others that we like because they have lots of interesting and exotic scenes to explore. And there are yet others with simple pictures, like Eric Carle's array of choices. Each book has its own charm, and is entertaining for its own reason.
It's important to me to have a wide variety of books, just so that
I don't get bored, although on the other hand I also like reading the same book every night as part of our ritual. The compromise that usually happens is that they get attached to one and we read it for a few weeks, until something else interests them. I generally read four books a night (each Big Brother chooses two) but depending on what time it is, and my patience level, it can be less or more. I wouldn't do less than two though, I really feel that the stories gear them up to go to bed. The few times that we've tried to skip the stories to save time just backfired.
There are a few things that I love about books. First of all, one of the greatest pleasures is sitting on the couch with two freshly bathed, pajama clad boys curled up next to you. They get so engrossed in the book, and it's amazing how these rambunctious and active children, who can't sit still for a second, will just listen to me read book after book after book. I enjoy the familiarity of it- no matter how many times we've read the same book, they'll point out the same things and ask the same questions. I like teaching them new things from the pictures. I like hearing the questions they come up with, and discussing different ideas. I am constantly amazed at how they notice details and discover things in books that we've read countless times! Big Brother Sr. is enthralled by
Go Dog Go, our latest acquisition, and it is currently on our nightly reading list. I sometimes find him during the day, sitting and reading the book to himself. Wow!
One thing that I learned from a dear friend and neighbor in Israel who, incidentally, I miss a lot, is to mention the book's author. (She taught me a lot about the pleasures of reading to kids and having a big library of kids' books). If they have the whole book memorized, at least let them learn something! I had a few cute incidents with it. I was reading a book and Big Brother Sr. said, "I forgot, who wrote the dog book?" It became important to him! A different time I was showing them a photo book that I made with family pictures, and one of the boys said, "the author is Mommy." I was quite proud when I asked them who wrote
10 Little Rubber Ducks (another one they can't get enough of) and they both said Eric Carle.
There are some books that we parents like better than the kids, like those Dr. Seuss books that you have to be an adult to appreciate the humor. Some have good lessons that I try to convey, like
Old Hat New Hat. Curious George always has terrible lessons (you can go against all the rules but if you do something good at the end it's all okay) but the boys really like it so I tolerate it. I think the pictures are stimulating for the kids.
Reading with my kids is enjoyable and educational, and I treasure it. And on that note, here is the aforementioned poem by Shel Silverstein.
Sick
'I cannot go to school today,'
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
'I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more - that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue -
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke -
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb,
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my spine is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is -
what? What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is ... Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!'
