Getting Your Kids to Love Books
My 1st child, a girl, has always loved books. From the minute she was born she'd sit on my lap for forever just letting me read to her. She crawled late, giving her even more time to learn to soak up the world of books while she could only sit, and not move, for months on end. I'd constantly find her sitting on the floor looking through books even after she learned to move. Before she was 1 her favorite book was Fancy Nancy - full sentences, serious story line, not a baby book. Before she was 2 she had long books, like Peter Pan, memorized cover to cover. I still find her reading books to herself every day and she'd let me read to her all night if I'd oblige.
"Wow, I must be a great mom!" I thought to myself. Cute little genius.
And then I had another baby. Baby #2 was a boy. Cute little dude was so different from his sister from the start. I'm sure I didn't read to him as much as I did to my daughter (who can with a toddler running around?), but I definitely tried. The level of interest wasn't the same. Then he crawled at 6 months (compared to my daughter at 10 months) and had no interest in anything but moving from then on out. I had to basically pin him to the bed to even get in a bedtime book... or a few pages of a bedtime book.
But, since I'm trying to do my best with this mom gig I persisted. I really think that you instill a love of books in your children at a young age. I didn't want to lose my chance to make my boy a reader.
I finally found a book that he liked at about 8 months. Gallop by Rufus Butler Seder. It's scanimation, so the pictures move. I should have guessed then what type of books would hook him, but my daughter was too easy for me to think that deeply into it.
Then another breakthrough - Baby Face (I don't know the author), a book with a mirror at the end where he could see himself.
Then Sandra Boynton books - need I say more? Pajama Time, Doggies, Blue Hat Green Hat.
Did you figure out where I'm going with this? The key to getting a seemingly uninterested reader loving to read is zeroing in on their style.
My son likes interactive books without a story line. For him, this means a number of things beyond moving pictures and mirrors. Simple pictures he can recognize and point out - "Buddy, where's the banana??". Animals he can make a sound for. Have you read Dinosaur vs. Bedtime? It's a treat! Things we can laugh at. He loves to laugh. Flaps to open. A book with lots of sound words - boom, crash, knock. Think Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? It's a favorite at our house.
My daughter loved rhyming. My son could care less. My daughter loved ABC books. My son steers clear of them. My daughter loved story lines very early. I finally just found the first "story line" book my son likes - I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt. And we can roar like a dinosaur and whisper in Stinky Faces' ear. Interactive.
My little guy now wants multiple books at bedtime. He brings books to me then backs up into my lap randomly in the middle of the day for a mid-day reading treat constantly. I'm so happy I didn't give up when he seemed hopelessly wiggly and uninterested.
So find your kids' style. Ask your children's librarians for recommendations. Ask your friends what their kids' favorites have been. Ask your mom what your favorites were. Keep trying. Try things you think they won't like. They might surprise you. Invest in a few favorites that really emphasize the kids' style. Kids feed off of repetition.
I only have 2 kids (so far!), but my perspective on reading to my kids has changed so much. I felt slightly hopeless with my 2nd, but with my future children I will be more than thrilled to play book detective until I figure out their styles - rhyming, story line, picture, ABC, interactive, whatever it may be.
From Stacey:
Thanks, Britt! I loved your term "book detective" and agree with you that it is important to find out what suits your children when they are tiny. This will help down the road a few years so you can know how best to help them as they begin reading more on their own. And I love Dinosaur v. Bedtime - hilarious. The "sequel" to Gallop is called Swing and my kids love that one...I'll have to remember to show them Gallop soon too! Lots of great books you've mentioned here! Thanks again!
Slight-Off-topic-but-hey-this-is-still-my-family-blog: I had to laugh when I checked out the pictures Britt sent me in her email with this post. The first attachment was this photo from 2008, below on the left. I thought I had one from the same day of Jacob smiling a tiny bit... Go figure - E is giving his arm a pat and that's when he cracked a smile. Or maybe it was elbow grazing! I showed this to my son and told him it was him and his ol' buddy E and he said, "Why did Jacob just grow up?" Sometimes I wonder the same thing...but maybe more of a when than a why. :)
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