I never understood Children’s Literature since I was never exposed to these types of books. It may also be because I was never read to when I was young. For some reason I couldn’t relate to the pace nor understand its ‘simplicity’. The Chronicles of Narnia, for example, (which my husband loves) were hard for me to read at first. Although I cried at some parts of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – I couldn’t understand the rest of the books. Not until my husband, Reiner, read The Horse and His Boy to me with his Brittish accent 🙂 He read a chapter before we slept and I felt like a child as I listened to the adventure of this boy and his horse. That’s when I understood the wonder of being read to and finally understood children’s books. From then on, I tried to make sure that reading aloud was part of our children’s routine.
So if there is one thing I learned from all my readings about parenting or educating kids – Reading Aloud stood out as one of the key things that we could do for/with our kids. I love the idea that I am actually doing A LOT by just cuddling and reading to them. Its a simple activity that they will (hopefully) treasure 🙂
Might post more about the Importance of Reading Aloud when I find time. Meanwhile, you can start by reading The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.
Happy Reading!
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