I grew up swimming in a sea of books. As a child I was given books as gifts, frequently taken to the library to pick out my own books, and lived in a house that was brimming with books because my mother was an avid reader.
One of the finest things my mother ever did was to begin reading to me at an early age. Years later, while studying for my master's degree, I learned the name for what she'd done-- the "Lap Method" of reading, which is simply putting a child on your lap and reading. I am a firm believer in this method. Phonetic sounding out of words is an important tool, but it is merely a tool. A passion for books will more surely lead to a desire to read. This passion can most easily be kindled and nurtured by reading aloud.
Reading aloud and loving books is a tradition to be passed from generation to generation. My son loves books as much as I do. When he was six months old, I shared with him Kunhardt's Pat the Bunny. I was gratified to see him enjoy the sensory pleasures of this book, just as I had. At night we both relaxed with Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon, a magical volume which has intrigued and soothed young children for generations.
There is a timelessness in good children's books. They endure. Perhaps that is because they are the inheritance of folk and fairy tales; the stories that fed starving hearts in prehistoric caves, Irish famines and Nazi concentration camps. Chris van Allsburg's eerie, mysterious stories, for example, will forever cause a reader to wonder, to dream.
Books for children run deep with emotion and have no embarrassment about this quality. Quick as a Cricket by Don and Audrey Wood demonstrates emotions with rhythm, rhyme and bold art work for a child as young as a year.
I love what books do to relationships. They form an enchanted bridge which spans the child in yourself and reaches across to the adult in the child. Books provide a way to put aside the stresses of the day, to cuddle up together and find again what is most important between you. B.P. Nichols Once A Lullaby can calm any battered soul with its lulling text while Anita Lobel's accompanying illustrations soothe the eyes.
Books have a funny way of creeping into your life. My son was never afraid to ride on an escalator because he knew that Don Freeman's Corduroy rode one. And we so love the luminous illustrations and mystical text of Barbara Berger's Grandfather Twilight that we imagine him walking each night as the sun begins to set.
People in my classes are continually impressed by the glorious art found in picture books. Not only physically beautiful, the illustrations have a strong emotive quality, sensitivity and humor. No one in our family can avoid laughing at the little mouse who hides a strawberry by disguising it in Groucho glasses in the Woods' The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and THE BIG HUNGARY BEAR. I always get a lump in my throat when I read Aliki's The Two of Them and come to the page where the little girl mourns the recent death of her grandfather, leaning her head against one of the trees he nurtured.
There is a lot, however, that threatens children's literature. Corporate America has discovered there is money to be made in children's books. Not long ago I heard Jane Yolen, noted writer for children, say, "There is literature and then there is the spoilage of trees." Though there are many , many marvelous books for children, there is also a great mass of commercial clutter in the field-- books which fall in Yolen's second category. (These books sell, not because of their quality, but because of a recognizable movie or cartoon title.)
We often hear that television is a threat to reading, and surely it is true, but Jim Trelease, author of The Read Aloud Handbook, recommend that we learn from the millions of dollars Madison Avenue has poured into commercial research and apply this knowledge to our introduction of books. Commercials don't try to sell chocolate cereals to teenagers; they aim their sales to a three or four year old. So must we introduce a child to reading when she is at a young, receptive age. A small baby will take naturally to the rhythms of a nursery rhyme or song book.
Commercials are brief, leaving the young audience hungering for more. Your initial reading sessions should match a limited attention span. Dubanevich's Pigs in Hiding is a book of few words but packed with actions as the bow-tied pig dashes about the house trying to find his friends. He can't, but the young reader glories in being able to do so.
Messages in commercials have lots of action and sparkle-- so should the books we choose for children. Carlstrom's Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? is full of rhythm, rhyme and humor. The colorful illustrations are brilliant and reassuring at the same time.
Parents tell me again and again that choosing books to buy can be overwhelming. I recommend looking at both illustrations and words. Is the book appealing? Children won't like a book they consider babyish. Conversely, their attention will wander if a book is too old. You can generally depend on a silver honor or gold Caldecott medal on the book's jacket. These awards are given to the finest picture books of the year. Freight Train by Donald Crews, for example, is graphically pleasing and has a delightfully simple text. Words and pictures combine to create a book that is sure hit and will be around for many years. The books I particularly like to recommend are those that grow with a child. Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar is just such a book. Not only does it have little holes to enthrall a baby and foods for a toddler to identify, but it also presents the days of the week, counting and the concept of metamorphosis to an older child.
A young child is the kindest, most appreciative audience you'll ever have. A child doesn't care if you're tone-deaf when you sing Jim Kennedy's Teddy Bear's Picnic. Nancy Tafuri's Early Morning in the Barn will earn you rave reviews when you dramatically ham up the sounds. Choose a book you will enjoy reading; remember you may be reading it many times!
I feel strongly about not buying flash cards or books whose sole purpose is to turn a child into a reader. Studies have shown that a child pressed into early reading will not be a lifetime reader. As you read, you can teach skills that will aid your child in loving reading and understanding what makes books work.
Predictability can be taught by looking at a cover and guessing what the book might be about. Leave out words in a rhyming book and a child will guess at the missing word, developing both a love of sound and a sense of what comes next.
Make reading an active process. Have your child make guesses. "Do you think the Mama Bunny will find her runaway bunny?" you might ask during a reading of Brown's Runaway Bunny. The beautiful illustrations support the child and urge correct answers.
Put your child into the story. When Max in Rosemary Well's Max's New Suit is being dressed by his bossy sister Ruby, you might ask, "Do you think you'd like to be dressed like that?"
There are countless ways to bring books alive for children and as you discover them, so will you discover a vibrant, new feeling in your relationship with your child. But don't take my word for it-- put a child on your lap, get a good book, book and see for yourself!
It's so hard for me to juggle work and family that I can't imagine doing it alone! Single mothers are a mystery and miracle to me and I love seeing them star in four new picture books: When Mama Comes Home Tonight, When Mama Gets Home, Gettin' Through Thursday and Your Move.
Eileen Spinelli's When Mama Comes Home Tonight is a comforting poem for very young children. It begins: "When Mama comes home from work, dear child,/ when Mama comes home tonight,/she'll cover you with kisses, /she'll hug you sweet and tight." Throughout, the softness of Spinelli's text and Jane Dyer's illustrations create a warmth and show how this single mother uses time together to restore both herself and her child.
For children a little older, there's Marisabina Russo's When Mama Gets Home. The story begins when an elementary-aged child answers a call from Mama who's on her way home. Immediately the child and her two siblings get busy with chores so they can fully enjoy their mother's homecoming. Again this is a warm home, but in this book there are three children whom the mother gently organizes and orchestrates so that each feels special.
Eve Bunting's Your Move is the story of a mother who must work at night and leave her children alone. Ten year old James is in charge of his little brother, but they check in hourly with a neighbor. On this particular night, James is meeting with a gang and passes initiation. Then they tell him about "The Take-it Game" and guns come into the picture. The book shows the hard decisions this boy faces and also the vulnerability of a parent who must leave her children for the sake of supporting them.
The single mother in Gettin' Through Thursday by Melrose Cooper is also dealing with economic struggle. Andre's good grades have earned him a promised celebration, but his family has to do a dress rehearsal until the paycheck comes. Their love and creativity are far more important than money.
There's also a new parenting book by Anthony Wolf that might help divorced parents who sometimes feel they're going it alone. Wolf's new book is titled "Why Did you have to get a Divorce and When can I get a Hamster?": A Guide to Parenting through Divorce. The author captures dialogues to guide struggling single parents through numerous questions and situations. He believes that "children are not necessarily-- by the fact of divorce- doomed to a second-class childhood."
Single parents looking for support will find books to calm and explain with the four titles: When Mama Comes Home Tonight, When Mama Gets Home , Your Move . Gettin' Through Thursday, and "Why Did you have to get a Divorce and When can I get a Hamster?"