Starting Things Off On The Right Foot

By on September 2, 2012 in Convictions, Week In Review

Being a new dad, it’s been pretty important for me to get to a good start on things with my son.  One area in particular that I feel is important to get off to a great start on is reading to my son.  The last couple of weekends, I’ve managed to read my son some bedtime stories.  While these stories aren’t my normal fare, they’re really good for him because they’re short, have nice colorful pictures, and have some good rhyming to them.

I’ve come to enjoy reading these bedtime stories to him.  Now, I’m relatively confident that he has no idea of what I’m saying and/or reading to him, but that’s ok.  I firmly believe that simply hearing my voice will help him bond with me even more.  And, I do believe that hearing extra words will help him later on developmentally.  More than anything else though, it’s a combination of both myself and my wife spending that extra time with him sharing with him something his mommy and daddy enjoy.

With the amount of reading kids are doing these days decreasing, there is nothing more than my wife and I would like is to turn our son into a voracious reader.  Our public library has a really great kids section, and we’d love for him to just immerse himself in all those different worlds he can discover via books. as opposed to being glued to the tv or video games all day long.

I thought I would also take a moment to share a few of the books that I’ve recently read to my son.

Good Night Moon is the first story I read my son.  What a good story with nice colorful pictures.  It’s short, and it’s definitely something I could see myself reading to him many nights in the future, especially as he begins to understand language significantly more.

 

 

 

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs is a humorous take on the original story The Three Little Pigs.  This book tells the story from the perspective of the wolf and how he’s really only looking to borrow a cup of sugar from his pig neighbors and that his cold is responsible for him getting such a bad rap.  It’s definitely a cute story that I think my son is definitely going to enjoy in the years to come.

 

 

 

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig switches the roles of the traditional story, by making the pig the big bad bully in the story.  It also has a very modern take on the tale, that instead of the pig huffing and puffing, he uses modern-day tools, such as a jack hammer, to destroy the wolves’ homes.  It added in the right amount of humor and had a half-way decent ending to show how different people/animals can actually come together and become friends.

I also can’t wait to read to him some of the Dr. Seuss books that we’ve started to collect for him.  I really think he’s going to enjoy those as well.  Overall, I’m simply enjoying the time reading to my son, and I hope it helps foster good reading habits for him in the future.

If you have kids, did you go out of your way to share you love of reading with them?  What do you have on tap for the week?

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  • Barbara

    I love Where the Wild Things Are. I’m not sure if I read it to my son but I read it to my granddaughter. I also read it to a high school English class at the beginning of a unit on heroes. When my son was small, I read to him all the time, but he did not turn out to be a reader like me. He’s such an extrovert, which I decidedly am not. No telling what they will grow into.

  • http://www.unfinishedperson.com/ Unfinished Person

    Hmmm, I’ve never heard of those versions of the three little pigs, but they sound like good ones. I’m sure your son will enjoy them later as well.

    As for what I’m doing, we’re at my parents today. I’ll be watching the NASCAR race tonight with my dad. Also this afternoon, I’ll be catching up on some reading — and over the next two days that I am lucky enough to have off.

  • http://www.facebook.com/shanertoogood Shane R. Toogood

    Perfect! Scieska is one of my favorite childrens authors. I think Logan’ll enjoy him even more when he starts reading (and who knows, if you keep reading to him like this, he might be reading sooner than you think!). Eric Carle and Maurice Sendak are great authors as well. Also, and he may be a bit too young for “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen, but RP Classics published a gorgeous edition of the fairy tale with illustrations by Charles Santore (who lives in Philly, mind you–represent!).

    • Beltwayliterature

      I certainly wouldn’t mind him beginning to read early! I certainly do enjoy reading to him, and I think The Little Mermaid would be a good one to read to him. Thanks for the suggestion, and I’m going to see about finding that particular edition you’ve mentioned!