Monday, June 13, 2011

The Power of a Storybook

(Credit)

One of my favorite memories with my mother was that she would read to us everyday.  We would snuggle up in her bed with a stack of books and she would read to me until I fell asleep.  It didn't matter how many times we had read those books before, or that I had them memorized, it was always exciting to hear them again.  She had a way of bringing the stories to life.

When I had children of my own, this was the first tradition that I couldn't wait to carry on.  All of my childhood books had been lost in a fire, but I have found a few of my favorites again at yard sales and in thrift stores.  It is amazing to me when I flip through these old books that the pictures can instantly take me back and I still have them memorized, though it's been over 25 years since my mother read to me.

The power of a storybook can calm an energetic toddler and ignite imaginations.

I thought that when my older children learned to read for themselves, that they wouldn't want to curl up on the couch with me for a story.  But they love it more than ever and it has opened up a whole new world of stories.

We have been reading the Little House series, which I never read as a child, and we are discovering the joys of the simple prairie life together.  I love that when I close the book they beg, "Just one more chapter, please?!"

When we read to our children we are giving them a beautiful gift.  We are making memories and instilling a love for literature that will last a lifetime.  We are also giving a gift to ourselves.  We slow down and enjoy our children and bring life back to where it should be.

2 comments:

  1. i loved being read to also. i'm doing the same with maddie and she loves looking at this pictures while i read to her. i have a series of books my mom read to us and can't wait (really i can lol) for her to get older so i can pass that tradition on as well.

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  2. You'll have to tell me how and when you do it- We got thru Little House in the Big Woods only by a prayer because instead of settling down, they either got bored and started acting out the chapters...which led to some nites of craziness, or literally got up and walked away 4 sentences into it!

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