Reading is Fundamental

Annie really likes books. She's always been fascinated with them, and for the most part, they are her favorite toy. After dinner, she can pick what we do until it's time for bed. Sometimes, she wants to ride her tricycle outside, other times she wants to color on her chalk board, but most often, we'll look at several picture books and talk about what she sees on the pages.



At bedtime, she is allowed to pick a book from the selection on her bed, which is a fairly substantial selection. These are all stories, I have a strict rule against picture books for bedtime.



So every night, after she's gotten her PJ's on, she picks a book and we lay down in her bed to read her story. When the story is finished, she takes the book from me and lays with her head on the pillow and the book cradled in her arms. I give her a kiss goodnight, and leave the lights on when I walk out of the room. Then the fun begins.



Annie will sit up and read herself the same story that I just finished reading her. Sometimes, she stops after rereading the first story, and lays down to go to sleep. Most often, though, she finishes that story and picks up a second book, then a third. Occasionally, this will go on for more than an hour, and it almost always ends with her falling asleep with a pile of books surrounding her.



As she gets older, I'm curious about how her love of books will evolve. I'm guessing I'll have to set a lights out time for her at some point. In the mean time, we're just going to enjoy reading Walter the Farting Dog and The Cat in The Hat over and over and over again.