A Father's Bedtime Story

Our second guest post in a series on reading and kids.

Guest Blogger: Bryan Bossart

Father, Reader, Wordsmith

1,573. 

That’s roughly the number of nights I've read to my boys (ages 10 and 8) over the past decade. It sounds impressive until I realize my wife is probably at around 2,000 or so (we usually alternate every other night, but sometimes Monday Night Football is on). If you do the math, you’ll surmise that there are only a handful of times that our children have ever gone to bed without a story. If it’s bedtime… we’re reading. It’s not something we decided as we skimmed What to Expect When You’re Expecting or surmised after an especially riveting episode of Reading Rainbow. It’s something that just happened. It’s our routine.

For the last five or six years, the evening ritual has remained the same: “Brush your teeth. Put on your PJs.  Pick a book”.  Once the book is chosen (almost always by them), we snuggle in and read for 20-30 minutes.  It’s a great way for all of us to wind down and connect at the end of the day. 

We’ve visited a fox with socks, a wizard with a chip on his shoulder, a super hero who only wears underpants, and many others.  We've read picture books, pop-up books, chapter books, comic books.  If it’s bound and has printed type, we've read it… no prejudice allowed. 

I wish I could pinpoint a defining moment during one of these reading sessions.  A night when my impression of Grover was so spot on that a 20 minute laugh riot ensued… or a time when the light of knowledge burned brightly above my children’s heads as they learned the differences between frogs and toads… you know, a real “this is why we read to our kids” moment.

The problem is… I can’t.  But then again, maybe it doesn’t happen that way.  Maybe all the small moments we’ve shared link together and grow.  Maybe they lead to something bigger.

Maybe that’s why both boys perform well at school (not only in reading, but in math and social studies and science…). 

Maybe that’s why both boys are open to new knowledge and new experiences. 

Maybe that’s why both boys are well behaved when we go out in public. 

Maybe that’s why both boys choose to read on their own another half hour after we put them to bed. 

Nah...it's gotta be the Grover impression.

Bryan, thank you for sharing your love of reading with your family with us! Bed-time reading is an important ritual that promotes literacy as well as a life-long love of reading. The snuggles are priceless too. For more on what reading and books can do for kids see our previous posts: http://recyclemeorganictees.blogspot.com/2012/12/all-i-want-for-christmas-isa-book.html 

A Father's Journey: Reading - the Gift of a Lifetime

Guest Author: Peter Stahl. 

Father, Poet, Extraordinary Reader.

Amazing things happen out loud. 

Birthing classes teach one partner to help the other imagine when pregnancy becomes uncomfortable or even difficult. She can be in a more relaxing place, like a nice tropical beach. I took my wife and child to Middle Earth. We encountered wizards and elves, orcs and dwarves and characters who found themselves immersed in strange situations, even as we also were journeying into this new realm of parenthood. 

For the price of a book we can go places beyond our doors when our means are limited. If it is good book, we can go again and again. When we read aloud we create that world around us and we listen to it take shape, realizing all these things through voices we recognize and trust.

Before my son was born we had picked out his name. It would be a combination of his Great Grandfather’s (on my side) and his Grandfather’s (on his mother’s side), nothing too complicated or obscure. Of course, this is a father’s tale. So when the doctor held him up and I saw my son for the first time I called out his name and he turned his head to look at me. I like to think he recognized my voice from all the reading I had done to him while he was in his mother’s womb. This story is now part of his history and part of mine because that is what I chose to read into it.

Reading helps us learn who we are and who we can be. Reading helps us move beyond ourselves. Reading helps us hear who other people are. Read out loud to your partner, read out loud to your children, and if you are fortunate read out loud to your parents. Share the stories which are yours and theirs and ours. Reading is the adventure that takes a lifetime.

Peter, thank you for sharing your thoughts on reading with us! We should all be so lucky to have a parent who reads aloud while we are in the womb.

All I want for Christmas is...a Book?

Skylanders, Pokemon, Wii U, Furby, Angry Birds, Barbies, American Girl Dolls, Littlest Pet Shops, Playmobil's, Lego's, Zombie toys. This is what you'll likely be looking for this Christmas shopping season.

What about a book? It may not be on your list, but I'd like you to think about adding it, maybe even two or three. I don't know if it is normal or not, but when I go into a bookstore, whether alone or with my kids, I get excited. Call me old school, but I like perusing shelves and discovering books I didn't think to even think about! A book is like an adventure - full of possibilities.

And that's the thing about giving a book for Christmas. The possibilities!

What kind of possibilities you ask? What does a book mean to adults, kids, children, to babies? I'll start at the beginning.

Reading Aloud
Studies have shown that reading to babies and toddlers increases vocabulary, enhances language development, promotes literacy, and increases success in primary school.1 Beyond the basics it also helps build self-esteem, awareness of general world knowledge, coping strategies, motivation, curiosity, and memory.2
Children's books contain 50% more rare words than prime-time television and surprisingly even college students' conversations.3

Reading aloud to children is an important part of early childhood development.

I remember reading to all three of my children. I wasn't thinking about increasing their vocabulary or about their future success in school. I was enjoying their little bodies on my lap and engaging them in the sound of my voice, whether in a sing-song melody of a rhyme or the high and low pitch sounds of excitement anticipating what would happen next. 'Moo Baa La La La' by Sandra Boynton was and still is one of my favorites. Reading aloud was a great way to bond.

I did notice that my oldest seemed to say a lot at a young age so I took notes and discovered she could say 70 distinct words by the time she was 15 months old. I'm sure our story time helped with that.

What else do we know about books?

Books at Home
The number of books at home increases the level of education a child will attain. This factor influences education level more than where they live in the world, their parents profession, or their parents educational level. A 20 year study on education showed that the number of books at home meant an additional 2.4 (U.S.A.) to 6.6 (China) years of education attained.4

The increased years of education translates into better jobs and better pay - all from having books in the home.

While all of that is impressive, the benefits of a book are not just about statistics, higher education, and better paying jobs. They are all important and quantifiable, but I find the intangible aspects of books more interesting.

Books open the door to a world of possibilities. They contain new ideas, cultures, and worlds. Books encourage conversations, stimulate creativity, and present opportunities. You meet new people, discover feelings, empathize.

I think the most exciting thing of all about a book is that when someone reads a book they come away with at least one idea or thought that they didn't have before - and although it may go nowhere, that thought, that idea, well it could go anywhere! It could cause anything to happen. It could change your life.

To answer my earlier question, 'what does a book mean to adults, kids, children, babies', it means a lot! Books mean language development, literacy, educational success, self-esteem, bonding between adult and child, better paying jobs, empathy, increased curiosity, adventure and so much more.

When you give a book you give all of these things. That's why a book is the perfect gift for Christmas. Whether you are buying a gift for a baby, a tween, or even an adult, your gift will be full of possibilities.

Here are some local Chicago book stores to visit:
Open Books
The Book Cellar
Women and Children First
After-Words Bookstore
Sandmeyer's Bookstore
Bookmans's Corner
Book Works
Gallery Bookstore
Myopic Books

Please let me know what books you recommend - leave a comment.

1  http://www.reachoutandread.org/FileRepository/ReadingAloudtoChildren_ADC_July2008.pdf
2 Bardige, B. Talk to Me, Baby!(2009)
3 See 1
4 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-05/uonr-bih052010.php

Alexandra Gnoske is a nature lover, writer, and environmental expert.

Books for Earth Day

Here is a list of books for different ages that are good to read anytime, but especially around Earth Day:

1. Silent Spring, Rachel Carson. 1962. Called the leader of the modern environmental movement, Rachel Carson was a Biologist and a Writer who was driven to write Silent Spring because of her concern of the overuse of pesticides. A must read.

2. A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold. 1949. Considered by many as the father of wildlife management and of the United States’ wilderness system, Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast.

3. Anything by E. O. Wilson.

4. The Green Thoreau. 1992. And Walden, Henry David Thoreau. 1854. Thoreau was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist.

5. What's It Like Living Green? Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live, Jill Ammon Vanderwood. 2009. Everyone's talking about being green but who's really living it? Find out in this brand new book that highlights kids from around the country and the things they do for the environment.

6. Green Sugar Press: Environmental Books for Kids. An Environmental Guide from A to Z (8 - 13); Earl the Earthworm Digs for His Life (5 - 9); N is for Nature: An Environmental Alphabet Book (2 - 6). 2009. Green Sugar Press’ children’s books deliver words and images to spark instincts already in kids—that desire to get outside and wander, wonder, dig and climb. They encourage kids to be kids: exploring, examining and investigating the natural world around them. For lifelong dividends, get your kids hooked on nature.

7. There's a Hair in My Dirt! A Worm's Story, Gary Larson. 1999. Just a humorous classic for a little science and fun as always.

I can't pick a favorite, but I will say that for over a decade I've been carrying The Green Thoreau out into nature on April 22nd to reflect. We all have our traditions. If you have any other essentials please comment and let us know what else we should be reading!