Our Little Literary Awakening

I am putting this behind a cut so that I don’t step on Play Library’s topic toes.

This is my 10 month-old daughter’s favourite reading experience:

I know I am a bit late coming to the High Five phenomenon, but living in Germany I tend to be a bit cut off from new English language publications. Our family sat down to read the magazine together on Sunday. My four year-old was serious about each article, especially through the adventures of Harry’s hat and Tiana and her mama’s bilingual trip to the pet shop.

Her big brother’s major literary awakening was when he was about 18 months-old and we met Thomas and Gordon in the classic tome Catch Me, Catch Me.

Even though I read to both kids every evening, I had no idea that a ten month-old could be so very engaged by verses, illustrations, and photographs, but three pages into High Five and she started squealing with excitement every time we turned the page to reveal a new picture. Now, she points and reaches for it whenever she sees the cover. I’ve had to read it three times a day.

It is getting rather difficult to maintain the surprise in my tone when the text reveals “Oh! He put his hat on top of a frog!” but magazine stories are mercifully short.

Interestingly enough, figuring out what this reading business is all about with High Five seems to have made the baby more aware that other books have the potential to be interesting. For the past few days she has seemed to be sitting quietly for longer periods of time during the bedtime stories. She also appears to be examining pictures more closely and paying greater attention to my reading voice.

And, she’s definitely pulling her brother’s hair a lot less!
Reading to babies from the first day of life has advantages. Governments around the world are giving parents little libraries to get them started on stories early (here are links to programs in Ontario, Canada and the UK). Developmental and bonding issues aside, I know there’s always one special story, one book, or one unique illustration that turns each child on to the real meaning of reading. I am relieved that I’ve seen it happen with both of my kids, but when it did happen (is happening) I’ve been surprised at their choice of reading material.

Even more surprising, though, is that I can remember The Tale of Two Bad Mice doing it for me.

Can your remember your first favourite book? Was it different than your child’s first favourite?

Read more about Little Literary Awakenings.