Reading With Mama

It surprises me, when I think back on it, and I lay all the credit at the feet of my mother. Here we were, growing up on a relatively remote island in southeast Asia, our parents both working very hard as missionary doctors, and yet there was a great deal of attention given to literacy in our family.

Many mornings before she went to work, my mom would sit down in the family rocker with my brother and me on either side of her, snuggling in close to listen and to look at the pictures as she read us Bible stories, character building stories, and nature stories.  Except for fairy tales, which weren't in our library, we got a wide range of interesting perspectives on the world. This acquaintance with the big world of books got me started asking at the age of five, "What does that word say?" "What does this word say?" Mama saw that I was itching to learn to read, so she sent me off to first grade with Mrs. Tupper, the new teacher who was starting a new one-room school for the missionary kids.

I was a happy reader who read most anything I got my hands on, yet I was also happy listening to Mama read aloud to us. On top of our ever-growing home library and school library, we had relatives who sent us subscriptions to Ranger Rick magazine and Ideals magazine. We read church magazines for children, "Our Little Friend," "Primary Treasure" and "Junior Guide."  We read the comics in the newspaper, and later all the Tintin and Asterix comics we could get our hands on. We read Enid Blyton's children's novels about the Famous Five and the Secret Seven, the Biggles books by W.E. Johns, and Richmal Crompton's William books. And we read those wonderful African tales by Jungle Doctor, both the real tales and the fables. What amazes me is that everything I remember reading as a child seems to be either still published or is back in print as a "classic."  My mom, grandma and teacher were skilled at spotting great literature.

I have come to firmly believe, not only from my own experience but from the research I've read and my observations as a teacher, that one of the greatest gifts parents can give to their children is to surround them with books and to read to them. Parents do well to model their own enjoyment of reading books, magazines and newspapers in front of their children, and to teach their children how to find good books to read in libraries and bookstores. Nothing better prepares a child to learn, to take different perspectives as they interact with a variety of people in this world, and to dream and do bigger things with their lives than they otherwise might.

National Family Literacy Day: it's a day worth celebrating on November 1. Celebrate it by reading aloud to someone or something in your home.