Fostering a Love of Reading

Research shows that one of the biggest influences on children's reading success is their parents having read to them. This was always my favorite part of my kids' bedtime routine. Although they took turns getting to pick out the bedtime book, I had my favorites, too.

My favorite class in college was Children's Literature, famously nicknamed Kiddie Lit. Maybe it was because I had two very young children of my own by that time (yes, I graduated alpha-beta-baby ). But assignments that involved combing through books and evaluating them made it a dream class. I discovered authors who became favorites for my kids. And then there were other books that they demanded whose charm has forever been lost on me. Some of the books were requested by my sons when there own children were born because of their fond memories of the stories.

Mercer Mayer was one of my first discoveries. I loved the charming little monster critters he illustrated his books with. I can't begin to count how many of his books my children had but I certainly tried to get them all. My favorite was Professor Wormbog in Search of the Zipperumpazoo. The professor has every beast from A to Y but alas, no beast for Z. Because the zipperumpazoo had never been caught. My oldest son loved the picture where the bathtub is overflowing at the end and the disappointed professor falls asleep, dejected by his failure, while all the little zipperumpazoos dance around his house.

All of my kids loved The Monster at the End of This Book, starring Grover of Sesame Street. We had the oversized board book but I haven't been able to find a big one for the grandchildren. Grover doesn't realize he's a monster and he's so afraid of monsters that he goes to great lengths to not get to the end of the book. Finally, as the kids keep turning pages Grover discovers that 'he' is the monster at the end of the book. This was always a big favorite at bedtime.

Dogs. Big Dogs. Little Dogs. Black and white dogs. I think I'll be able to recite Dr. Seuss's Go, Dog, Go to the end of my days. No use describing the plot. There isn't one, other than dogs driving around in cars and ending up at a big dog party. But the children loved it. It's also in each of my grandson's libraries.

For whatever bizarre reason, my third oldest son was fond of Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? I will be forever convinced that that he merely liked to hear me run through the different sounds, including the dibble-dibble-dop-dop in the 'story'.

I've re-discovered my love for children's literature with the births of my grandsons. For a pre-birth gift I always present them with a good start to a library. There are some darling books out these days! And like their fathers, the grandsons have favorites.

Rylan likes the Bear stories by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. Bear and his forest friends star in several books, including Bear Stays Up for Christmas, Bear Feels Sick and Bear Wants More. The illustrations are gorgeous and the text is a treat for the reader, as well as the child. That's important when mom or gamma is reading at bedtime!

Kasen's favorites are the If You Give...books by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond. I'm trying to keep track of which ones he has, so I can complete the set for Christmas.
They all have the same pattern: If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a... Or if you give a pig a pancake, he's going to want a... The stories detail the animal's demands as they get more and more outlandish. There are several in the series now and each is as cute as the next.

Keaden's favorite these days is Llama, Llama, Mad at Mama.
Look at the expression on the baby llama's face! The illustrations are a hoot. The text rhymes, as baby llama goes to the shoparama with mama llama and gets progressively angrier when they stay too long. Anne Dewdney is the author, and there are a couple more books in the series. Of course, he's equally fond of the board book Moo, Baa and La-la-la. Which only goes to show that seventeen month olds don't require plots with their night time reading!

When the three youngest were in grades four and six, I read them the Judy Blume Fudge books, Twain's Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird. And it was always a tradition in the house to read T'was the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve. The oldest ones would scoff when they were in high school. But I'd still find them lingering in the hallway outside the twins' bedroom while I was reading it.

These days we continue the tradition with the grandchildren. I can only hope that my love of books can be passed down through the generations.

Do you still recall your favorite books from your childhood? Do your kids/grandkids have new favorites? Which books did you 'graduate' to when you started reading on your own?