There are few things I enjoy more than flitting about the children’s room of my local library, trailing behind the head librarian. I say flit, because she reminds me of a butterfly, hovering over each treasured tome as she shares a 20-second synopsis of each book before she flits off to another shelf.
It doesn’t take much to get her started. I can give her two or three titles of books my son or daughter has enjoyed, and she is off. Twenty minutes of her undivided attention reaps a reading list that can last my children for months.
It is a sound investment of my time, but given the demands on hers, I cannot always count on catching her at a good moment. So I am an avid reader of lists – particularly summer reading lists. The American Library Association (www.ala.org) is usually a good place to start.
Since the school year is drawing to a close, I am already fantasizing about my children curling up with a book. Just for fun. No assignments, no note-taking. Just pure, unadulterated reading pleasure. True, I do have to enforce reading time; but with a little research and some luck, they usually get so engrossed in a book that they’ve forgotten I asked them to read in the first place.
For those children who have not yet learned how to read on their own, why not make reading more fun? Download an interactive fairy tale from www.saturnanimation.com. Your children can read and play at the same time.
