Food for the soul.GIGA Quotes
Unattributed Author, Inscription on the Berlin Royal Library
Three Books to Get Young Children To Develop
Budding "Relationships" with Books
Very few events in life, in my opinion, are as exciting as seeing a baby becoming more and more interested in books--by wanting to be read to, by asking questions about the pictures in books, by trying to repeat the words in stories, by asking for stories to be repeatedly red to him or her. One of the major reasons that it is so important to read to babies, to introduce them to books, to model our book and reading enthusiasms for them is so that they begin, as early as possible, to develop a positive relationship with reading, with books, with libraries, with writing, with creativity, and with thinking.
Some of you might be thinking, "now how do I know that?" Am I highly educated in some special discipline? Do I have more degrees than a thermometer about the importance of introducing children to books and reading as soon as possible? Am I a self-developed guru on these topics?
Well none of the above is true. What I do have in their place is the experience of, with my wife, introducing three sons and a grandson to reading and books. While it is true that none of our sons share the same passion for reading that my wife and I do, all three will pick up books and magazines and read when they find topics of interest. In fact our now 18-year old son read four or five of the Harry Potter books. The middle son has an Associate Degree in Graphics Technology with an Emphasis in Architectural Drawing and our younger son just completed his freshman year in college. By the way, in his freshman year he accomplished what I never did during getting my B.A. in history in four years: he took public speaking. I was too afraid to take it. Ironically, I would go on to a 33-year career of public speaking in the National Park Service and devloping a life-long love for both public speaking and the NPS.
Our oldest son has an insatiable curiosity about life topics that he finds information about in reading the newspaper, an occasional book, and watching television
How our grandson will develop his reading tastes, styles, and techniques, or whether he will, remains to be seen.
So what are the three books, among other books, that these three young men have cut their reading and book teeth on?
First--Runaway Bunny
Next--Good Night Moon
Finally--Drummer Hoff
Runner Away Bunny is by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd. See Amazon customer reviews Runaway Bunny Reviews
Goodnight Moon is also by Brown and Hurd. See Amazon customer reviews Goodnight Moon Reviews
Yes, we were first drawn to this book because of the author's last name is the same as ours. The authors of Drummer Hoff are Barbara Emberly and Ed Emberly. See Amazon customer reviews at Drummer Hoff Reviews
Drummer Hoff is not the classic that the other two books are but it has wonderful illustrations and rhyming language. I won't reveal the plots to you adult readers, but trust me, you and your children will enjoy these books. I suggest personal copies for your children. They may save them for their children.
Your Feedback?
What "starter kid lit" books turned your children on to reading in the beginning? Let me know by posting a comment on this blog or drop me an email at hoff_bob2003@yahoo.com Thank you.
In the Mood for a Thriller?
Right now a close friend of mine, who feasts on books whenever she has the chance, is reading The Wrong Man by John Katzenbach (available in our library), a thriller story about a stalker, The tension is building in the story and in her with each page that she turns. The author is the son of Nicholas Katzenbach, the former U.S. Attorney General in Lyndon Johnson's administration. He is a former court reporter from Florida and lives in Massachusetts. He has written 10 books.I also read thrillers, including The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, as well as an occasional Curious George book.
The thriller is the most popular literary genre of the 20th century. .Ken Follett at Wikipedia
Ken Follett
© Bob Hoff, 2007
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