Read to Them

One of the quotes that I often think about is Emily Buchwald’s “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” Teaching reading is very difficult and reading to a child that has never been read to makes the job seem impossible.  Today it made me think about what made me a reader.

As a child, my mother, who taught reading for years, read to my brothers and I  every Box Car Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.  I do not remember the stories exactly but I remember loving the stories and cherishing our special time together.  Later in life, my father and I did a book study for religious education on the book Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Harnard.  Again, I do not remember much about the book but I remember the time we spent together and the close bond that I felt.  

Today I decided to look at a review of Harnard’s book.  The review states that over 2 million copies were sold.  “It is a timeless story of God’s children yearning to new heights of love, joy, and victory.”  It is the story about a girl on her journey to overcome dangers and fears and to finally reach the “high places.” I find it fascinating that the book I remember so fondly focuses on exactly what children gain from reading with their parents.  They gain a sense of love from the time they spend together, a sense of joy from learning to love reading and a sense of victory as they begin their own personal journey in literacy.

I was one of the lucky ones.  I have been able to reach high places thanks to the gift I was given as a child.  Books have given me a perspective beyond my own and an overwhelming sense of gratitude to my first teachers, Mom and Dad.