Love of reading is contagious

The first thing to greet you when you walk through our front door is a bookshelf filled with children’s books. You are also likely to find an adult curled up on the couch, snatching a few minutes to read or sharing a story with a child. In our house, love of reading has largely been contagious, rather than deliberately taught. I suppose you could say we model reading, but it’s more habit than hardship.

In the last year, our oldest son’s reading has exploded and we’ve begun to face the welcome challenge of monitoring his reading. He has a vivid imagination and is currently interested in being scared, so trips to the library sometimes result in books I would rather he had not chosen.

Here’s what we’ve done so far: we monitor reading far less than television because books depend on the reader’s imagination to furnish details. We may choose a few books from his library pile to disappear – some books are simply not appropriate. We’ve also talked about how some of his choices are the equivalent of junk food: occasionally okay in the context of a well-balanced diet. We supply classic stories that appeal to him, and which reinforce values of love, truth and honour, like tales of King Arthur and Narnia. Finally, we discuss what he reads, he joins the younger children for stories and poetry readings, and we close each day with reading a passage aloud from the Bible.

Here are two books I recommend for young children:

• Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel.
• Does God Know How to Tie Shoes? by Nancy White Carlstrom.

Susan Fish attend Kitchener (Ont.) MB Church.