Now, I realize this may sound biased, but it is entirely possible that I am related to the two most adorable children in America. Wait, I take that back, that sounded foolish. IN THE WORLD. And since I live in St Louis, and they are in the great state of Iowa, I only get to see them every few months or so. I have the unique perspective of seeing them grow in leaps and bounds. Not only are they the cutest children in the world, they also happen to be tiny geniuses.
My niece, who I have been told is the spitting image of me at that age (poor poor dear) is already an avid reader. Can she actually read? Well, no, admittedly she memorizes and then repeats. But already she has discovered the rapture of finding an amazing book and curling up in her favorite chair and spending an hour lost in her imagination. An imagination I might add that found her teaching class one day to my sister’s toes. Her toes were her students you see.
Anywhoodle, we all trooped downstairs to Grandma’s basement to look for buried treasure. The treasure being boxes and boxes of books from my own childhood. And when we found them, you would have thought we had uncovered a giant pile of chocolate and puppy dogs. The pure joy my niece has in digging through stack of unread books, it’s a wonderful thing to see. And I squealed with just as much joy when I found some of my old favorites. Later on that afternoon, I heard her to say, “Yep, I like to read like my Aunt. That’s what we’re in to these days”. Killed. Me. Dead.
These kids like to watch The Backyardigans as much as the next kid, but my goodness, never discount the power of reading and what it can bring into your child’s world. Of course, when we found my old Star Wars picture book, I took it and hid it in my bag…I am the biggest child of all.
When did you become an avid reader?
