A BBC article from April 10th called Dads Don't Read Bedtime Stories cites a new poll that found that only 42% of dads read to their kids before bed. In the Baby Bonding Book for Dads we tell dads it's never too early to start reading and we even suggest you read to your nearsighted 3-month-old! But reading to older kids is where the real fun begins. When our son was 3 he wanted us to substitute the name of all the main characters with his name. We no longer read Curious George, we read Curious Etani. The Runaway Bunny was The Runaway Etani ... you get the idea.
You get to re-read your childhood favorites when you read to your kids, and also discover some of the books you missed as a child (The Light Princess, anyone? A strange chapter book by a contemporary of Lewis Carroll's; Chronicles of Narnia; The Hobbit. Kid lit is so rich and amazing, how could you not read to your kids just to have an excuse to read it yourself?!).
Maybe it's an English thing? Hey American Dads, it's time to stop surfing the net and go read a book with your kid(s).
I'm glad you encourage dads to read to their kids in The Baby Bonding Book for dads. And you're right about parenthood offering a second chance with kids books. I introduced my son and the neighborhood kids to Pippi Longstocking when they were small...
ReplyDeleteI was at the critical juncture between childhood and early adolescence when a grade-school teacher introduced me to red-haired Pippi. By today’s standards Pippi would need Ritalin, but I wanted to be exactly like her.
She was certifiably wacky -- the first free spirit I’d encountered. I admired the way she bent rules and colored outside the lines, yet always handled the consequences with charm and tact. Best of all, Pippi lived by herself at Villa Villekulla, managing quite nicely with her own horse and a pet monkey.
My favorite time of day is right before bed, when I nurse my son to sleep and my husband reads to my daughter (and my son and I listen in)!
ReplyDeleteCindy, I love, love, love the Pippi books. My daughter and I both have red hair, and I cannot wait to introduce them to her...but then again, I'm worried that she's going to then act them all out and I'll have to clean up the mess!