by Sheila South
A The Kids & Me Contributor
Stories. Just love a good story. Reading stories together was such an integral part of raising our children. First were the board books with their stiff little pages for hands that were just learning how to grasp. These books often had scratchy spots for smelling or tactile spots for touching or squeaky spots for listening and they usually had a short, sweet message about a baby experiencing wonder in the world.
Then came the picture books. I loved these stories as much as the children did as I was fascinated with how the artists chose to depict the events and characters and the many different styles of illustration one could see. Picture books are a standard 32 pages. In 32 pages, the author must introduce the character(s) and the problem, progress the storyline, and sum it. And... make a little magic in the meantime. What a marvelous find when the words perfectly melded with the pictures. And what a joy was a funny story that could be read and reread and laughed at again and again. Our local library allowed a patron to check out 99 books at a time for 3 week periods. And that's what we did, week after week.
Then came time for the kids to practice their own reading. I do remember some favorite short-chapter books, some stories that nobody wanted to put down, stories that would make us want to spend the day curled up on the couch reading and put all our other subjects to the side - stories that spurred interest in things like baking scones for goodness sake! (Have to name Redwall by Brian Jacques). These were legitimate literature, not twaddle (as Charlotte Mason called it). What a special time to see a young one garner this skill and unlock the keys to reading.
Even when the children started reading on their own, we always had a family read-aloud going on. This is what we did in the car everywhere we went. These stories were meaty. These stories were the kind that would keep you wishing the trip were longer. These stories were the ones that choked me up, brought tears to my eyes, and caused me to pause as the others waited patiently for me to gather myself and continue. That reminds me of a trip we took with my mom and dad before the kids were even born. We were listening to an audio tape. It was intense. It was a true story about events that happened at NC State. We stopped along the road to eat at a restaurant and near the end of the meal we all noticed Dad was mysteriously MIA. We found him. He was in the car listening ahead in the story. LOL. It was a good story. Guess I got the love of a good story honest.
You have to be careful searching for good stories these days. Not only is there a lot of twaddle, there is a lot of inappropriate garbage. A string of words does not a story make. Here's a great resource of time-tested stories (also available at the library):
Honey for A Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt.
p.s. For a great read about the importance of story for children, check out this article.
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