Reading Memories

I've been going to the library since I was about 2 years old. My grandmother started taking me to let my mom have a bit of a break. Eventually, it was both my grandmothers and us three kids going every. single. week. My mom hardly ever went to the library because that was the thing we did with our grandmothers. We even made our own library bags with our Oma. Reading has always been a part of my life.

My family was a reading family. One of my favorite home videos/stories is of Mom reading a book (I think it was a Clifford book?) while I am handing upside down off the side of the chair - I'm about 2 years old (maybe younger) - and I'm quoting the book as she reads it! My dad read us The Chronicles of Narnia and Mom read us The 39 Clues series, among a lot of other things. I remember us taking books on camping trips and reading around the fire. We read often and everywhere. It's woven into the fabric of my childhood.

A few years back, I got to read some of the first Percy Jackson book to my nieces and nephews while I was visiting. That was a series I enjoyed as a teen so it was fun to share the experience with them. I read the Narnia books to the little boy I babysit and have moved on to the Passages series. Do they really understand what I'm reading to them? Not really. But the point is that they are hearing stories and spending that quality time with me.

Reading aloud introduces kids to the wonderful world of books. I know there is all kinds of science about the benefits of reading to your kids, and that's great, but what if we simply did it to spend time and bond? What if we did it simply out of joy? I know it is a joy for me to share books I love with the next generation.

I'm not sure I will ever have books memorized like my mom :) She can still quote, verbatim, Dr. Seuss (and similar style books), which we found out when I was reading the ABCs book to my nephew and niece. She was mouthing the words so I started reading the letter and she would finish - from the other side of the room! - the sentence. It was hilarious! She's hardly read it in over 20 years but she read it enough back then that it is imprinted forever in her brain.

Did your family read aloud? Is that something you are doing/would do with the kids in your life?