I love reading. I have always been a voracious reader with the ability to sit and devour a book in a single session, if I have the time. When I was a kid, we would often make a trip to a large shopping mall about 30 minutes away. Each trip would allow me to spend a little of my own money on an item of my choosing. Did I choose clothes, jewelry, or candy? Nope. I chose books. I always made the bookstore our last stop on the shopping trip so I could race out to the car, get settled in for the drive home and dive right into my book. I could often finish a short chapter book between the Mall exit and my front door. Even now, I have been known to stay up all night to complete a novel. The hubby has come home from night shift more than once to find me asleep with my glasses on and a book on my lap, or crying my eyes out over the ending of a sappy romance novel by Mr. Sparks.
A good book is like a good knitting project--you want to read/knit quickly to get to the end and find out what happens/what it looks like, but once it is finished you feel a little sad and just want it to last forever!
In an effort to lessen the let-down of finishing a book, I usually have 4 or 5 books going at a time-- A little non-fiction here, a parenting guide there, a little chick-lit, and a health and sports book. The hubby doesn't understand it. He wonders why I don't get confused because I can put one down and pick up another mid-page. I can't explain it. I guess I need more than one genre at a time to keep my mind engaged. He did however, display his full-support of this habit by purchasing a Nook Color for me as a (BIG) surprise Christmas gift! It make juggling all those different books so much easier!
When The Reporter was a preschooler, I was sure that my reading obsession had rubbed off on her. She loved books and being read to. She had memorized all the words to The Cat in the Hat at age 3 and would sit in her little chair and read all evening. I dreamed of the day that we could sit side by side on the beach and lose ourselves in the world of literature. I imagined nights cuddled in her bed reading Little House on the Prairie and Ramona and Beezus.
This dream came to a screeching halt when she entered Kindergarten. Suddenly, reading became something she HAD to do each day, and in her mind that was not fun. Sure, she read. She made progress throughout the school year, learning high frequency words and increasing her reading level. However, she still protested when I suggested reading anything "extra" in the evening.
I was crushed. She was supposed to be my reading buddy--My cuddle under the covers bookworm. I was going to teach her how to sneak the flashlight under her pillow so she could read after I tucked her in at night, just as I had done as a child. However, she wasn't interested. I felt like a failure. I thought I had done something to turn her away from reading for pleasure.
As an educator, I know the importance of summer reading to maintain skills when school is out of session. But as a reader, I look forward to the lazy days of summer to allow for more time to relax and read. Summer reading is always better, right? No distractions of work-related books, sandy beaches to sit on, early morning reading on the porch with a cup of coffee. . .I wanted my child to enjoy this reading freedom and look forward to it just as I do each year. We needed a plan to make reading enticing.
On the way to school one morning, I asked The Reporter what she thought about reading during the summer. Her enthusiasm was underwhelming. I told her that we needed to have a challenge--how many books could she read this summer!!? She perked up! We decided together that a boring old piece of paper listing her completed books would not suffice, so she suggested a paper chain! She would write the name of each book she read on the back of the paper, chain them together and display it for the world to see! I was giddy with excitement and couldn't wait for summer to begin!
As soon as we returned from the beach, we set up "Summer Central"--our crafting table and book recording station:
We used my new rotary cutter and mat to cut strips of scrapbooking paper to record her book titles:
And she sat right down and read a few. . .
As of tonight, we have six (SIX!!) loops on our paper chain. One for each book or chapter of a book that she has read since Saturday. I am a proud mama. Not only does she read the books, but she is ASKING to read and that is a big step for her! We are even partner reading some chapter books on the Nook (Hint: You can increase the font size to display less words per page and make it look easy!) and are part of a summer book/movie club!
Only time will tell if we will share books, just as my mother and I do. But for now, I am satisfied with her excitement and determination to read. . . .
The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books.~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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