Books of the week - the importance of reading to children

Last Sunday, I read this article on the NY Times written by Thomas L. Friedman. He explains how we, parents, can improve our children's education, instead of leaving the whole responsibility to the teachers. And one of the main point of the discussion is the importance of reading to our children. His arguments are backed up by some very interesting statistical data that show the correlation between the involvement of parents in their children's school life (as little as asking how their day was at school or what they are learning) with their children's future success not only as students but as individuals.

I read to my children since they were babies. Mainly because I enjoy it but also because I firmly believe that reading habits have to be introduced at an early age. I've always been surrounded by books myself and I want to teach my children to look at them as a source of pleasure and not as a burden or obligation. We read every night before bedtime and to my happiness, I see them sometimes sitting in their room (even my 2 year old) "reading" by themselves.

I don't read as much as I used to and certainly not as much as I should. However, I always carry a book with me. When I really like one, I usually can't stop reading it. But when I'm about to reach the end, I always feel very sad, because it means I'll have to say goodbye to the people (the characters) that had become my companions even for a short period of time. I can even find myself, days later, still thinking about them and even missing them. Weird, I know. But I love when this happens. The last book that really moved me this way was Never Let me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro.

I'm very possessive with my books. I don't really like to borrow them and certainly not giving them away. Once I've read them , they are part of me. I like to see them in my bookshelf, even if the edition is not the best, because they always bring back some memories. They not only carry their story inside, but they also carry a moment of my life. A trip, a bad day, a success... Books can make you dream, reflect, feel sad, happy, angry. They affect you one way or another. You can love a book or hate it, but the minute you've decided to read it, you'll never feel indifferent about it. I've already read books in which I hated the main character, others that bored me to death, others that made me travel to distant lands or times. I still remember the excitment when I read "The Three Musketeers", by Alexandre Dumas, when I was young. This is what I want to pass on to my children.

I'm not a big fan of the e-readers. I don't own one right now, but I know that I'm running against the flow. I'm not against technology, I just want to resist to this specific one as long as I can. There is something about holding a book that you can't feel when holding your e-reader. Books are not all the same. Some are thicker, some are big, some are small, some have big characters, the texture of the pages may feel different, etc. They smell different too (I love to smell new books) and their are designed in different ways. All this is lost when you read an electronic version. Your e-reader is always the same. Suddenly the books all look the same. Of course, the content is more important than the cover and it is well known that you shouldn't be influenced by the cover of a book. But for me this is just impossible. I like pretty things and I like nice designs in everything. One thing comes with the other.

This is even more true when referring to children's book.

I was once taught that when reading to very yound kids, you don't need to stick on the wording or the order of the story. Talk about the pictures, ask them questions, make them guess what the story is about. In other words, keep them interested on the book by making them participate in the reading and helping them free their imagination.

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 Here's a book that is kind of related to the subject: 

 Here's the version for the little ones:

 And this is the book that P. just chose to read before his naptime. It's hilarious.