Reading To Maggie.

You may have tangible wealth untold:

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be -

I had a mother who read to me.

-Strickland Gillilan

"The Reading Mother"

Maggie loves books. Well, love doesn't even to begin to describe her relationship with books. She needs books, craves them. I spend hours everyday just rocking Maggie and reading her books.


The picture above is a stack of books I read her this morning. She signs please-more after each book. Her little fingers point to the pictures and she loves to know the names of things and the sounds they make. I ask her to point to animals,apples,colors,shapes and she knows exactly what I am talking about. She knows so much, I believe, because of books.


Her mind is a sponge right now, taking in everything and learning so much lately. She even wants to sleep with her books and reads them when she eats.


Even though Maggie is not yet talking up a storm, her receptive language (the listening and understanding of language) is amazing. She intently listens to the stories I read and knows exactly when it is time to turn the page. It is easy for Maggie to pay attention and sit for an hour sometimes when I read to her.


There's so much that is happening as we read together : Bonding, vocabulary and knowledge building are just some. And the best source for building up her brain with words and sounds is reading.

Two books I love that explain the importance of reading to children and also have detailed lists of books for different ages are:


Honey For A Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt


The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.  


I love these books and they stay on my nightstand and go to the library with me.


Happy reading !