In 2016, I discovered Sarah Mackenzie’s Read Aloud Revival podcast and it changed the trajectory of my parenting. I binge listened as Sarah interviewed scholars, psychologists, authors, librarians and parents about the joys and riches of reading aloud to children. From nursery rhymes and picture books to middle grade novels and Shakespeare, I learned how reading aloud shapes children’s minds and hearts in ways nothing else can.
I learned that reading aloud gently broadens vocabularies, stretches attention spans, grows curiosity, reveals different perspectives, flexes the imagination, sparks creativity and improves communication skills. It broadens knowledge of world cultures, history, science and literature too. Excellent stories inspire bravery, faith, empathy, self-examination and integrity. And when it comes to developing noble character, a good book is more influential than a lecture.
Convinced, I set out to read aloud to my children every day for six months straight. I started by keeping a book bin by the couch and filling it every Sunday with beautifully illustrated tales, national geographic readers, picture book biographies, Caldecott winners, favorite rereads and anything from Read Aloud Revival’s online booklist. Each day, each child chose a book from the bin, then we cuddled up to read all three stories together. They latched onto our new habit and held me to it.
The habit stuck. We still read aloud every day and have added novels, poetry and short story anthologies to our book bin. Moreover, the habit of reading has worked its way into our daily life. With no prodding from me, my sons use reference guides to research animals. My seven year old wanders the yard with an audiobook playing from her backpack. They all gather around the craft table drawing while listening to an audiobook together. My four year old climbs in her big sister’s bed at night with a picture book to share. On car rides, they make up stories for each other. Sometimes they staple pages together to illustrate their own stories. More frequently, they run outside to pretend stories together. They sit by the fireplace or lay on their beds with picture books because they associate books not only with learning but with rest. We have filled several bookshelves with used copies of the best children’s literature and we regularly hit our library check-out maximum. Reading has become part of our family culture.
I
can attest that this loud messy gaggle of children’s attention spans have been stretched, their curiosity and imaginations have been sparked, their empathy has been catalyzed, their artistic skills have improved, their powers of communication are growing and their characters are developing, in large part, because of good books. I remain convinced that good books give the truest head start for life-long learning and that stories about noble characters lay the foundation for a life well lived. I cannot imagine our home without books.
This article was printed in the Winnsboro News in July 2021 as part of the series: Six Months Cultivating Skills, Joys and Habits in Your Children. See many of our favorite books in my Amazon resource list here.
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