As a librarian, I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see Greyson developing a love for books. His collection started small, with a few classics given to me at my baby showers. It has grown with each birthday and holiday, and we now have a shelf of tales to choose from each evening. I hope to eventually fill the bookcase, but we'll start slowly.
Greyson's favorite book as a tiny tot was Mommy Loves, a sweet book about animal mommies and babies. In the beginning, it was the right size and shape for the Goose to chew on. It has remained a favorite of his because of the animals, and a favorite of mine because of the lovely and simple message. As we start reading he eagerly awaits the page with the doggies, turning the pages quickly looking for them.
Another favorite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Inside the cover of the book, on the title page there are many small circles in typical Eric Carle style and color. For some reason when we started enjoying this book I would chant "circle, circle, dot, dot, look at all the pretty spots" before we launched into the story. To this day Greyson still says "dot dot dot" when we see certain circles or dots. Now he says "mmmmmm" (his word for orange) when we get to the page where the caterpillar eats through five oranges on Friday.
Nana gave Greyson a Curious George book for Christmas and that has become the Car Book. He reads it to and from school, the grocery store, the park, etc. It has a dog and cat and rabbit and squirrel and he likes to point all of these out as we make our way around town. Last week before school, he somehow got his book out of the car, took it with him down the driveway, and sat on the sidewalk re-reading one of his favorites. I guess it's a good thing kids like repetition.
His favorite category of books are the "touch and feel" animals, or "lift the flap" peek-a-boo books. Pat the Bunny taught Greyson to say "shhhh!" whenever he sees someone/something with their eyes closed (as in "shhh! Bunny is sleeping"), a trick I find endlessly amusing and adorable. He learned to say "lizard" after reading one of his touchy feely animal books. Unfortunately he's pretty rough on them, so some of the flaps need to be glued back into his Peek A Baby book.
Every night, we read Goodnight Moon together as a family, just before lights out. I don't think I read this book until I was an adult. Emily turned me on to it, and it always makes me think of her and Jordan and all of our sweet little babies, even though we're so far apart. I hope that Greyson will always remember it as his soothing bedtime ritual with Mama and Dada.
I guess we have a ways to go before I can really say we've instilled a love of reading in the boy, for now it's just a love of books. But for that, I'm grateful.
Greyson's favorite book as a tiny tot was Mommy Loves, a sweet book about animal mommies and babies. In the beginning, it was the right size and shape for the Goose to chew on. It has remained a favorite of his because of the animals, and a favorite of mine because of the lovely and simple message. As we start reading he eagerly awaits the page with the doggies, turning the pages quickly looking for them.
Another favorite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Inside the cover of the book, on the title page there are many small circles in typical Eric Carle style and color. For some reason when we started enjoying this book I would chant "circle, circle, dot, dot, look at all the pretty spots" before we launched into the story. To this day Greyson still says "dot dot dot" when we see certain circles or dots. Now he says "mmmmmm" (his word for orange) when we get to the page where the caterpillar eats through five oranges on Friday.
Nana gave Greyson a Curious George book for Christmas and that has become the Car Book. He reads it to and from school, the grocery store, the park, etc. It has a dog and cat and rabbit and squirrel and he likes to point all of these out as we make our way around town. Last week before school, he somehow got his book out of the car, took it with him down the driveway, and sat on the sidewalk re-reading one of his favorites. I guess it's a good thing kids like repetition.
His favorite category of books are the "touch and feel" animals, or "lift the flap" peek-a-boo books. Pat the Bunny taught Greyson to say "shhhh!" whenever he sees someone/something with their eyes closed (as in "shhh! Bunny is sleeping"), a trick I find endlessly amusing and adorable. He learned to say "lizard" after reading one of his touchy feely animal books. Unfortunately he's pretty rough on them, so some of the flaps need to be glued back into his Peek A Baby book.
Every night, we read Goodnight Moon together as a family, just before lights out. I don't think I read this book until I was an adult. Emily turned me on to it, and it always makes me think of her and Jordan and all of our sweet little babies, even though we're so far apart. I hope that Greyson will always remember it as his soothing bedtime ritual with Mama and Dada.
I guess we have a ways to go before I can really say we've instilled a love of reading in the boy, for now it's just a love of books. But for that, I'm grateful.
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