Storytime at the library and reading for fun

Since little M loves to watch kids who are older than her she likes going to storytime at the library as well as to the elementary school and watch recess (Melory's ideas).  Both activities are hits.  We've gone for stories several times the past few weeks.  Afterwards, Madeleine walks me all around the kids' section.  She's also quite content to sit and see what all the other kids at the library do.  We love our library, our library's story tellers, and all the kids who come.

I've been trying to look at print material with her more and she's starting to figure out that letters and words have meaning and aren't just marks on a page.  I think she also just likes turning pages now that she's got more hand-eye coordination.

I asked Mom and Dad the other day what things, as parents, that they are glad they did with us and what things they wish they had done differently.  Mom's first comment was that she wished she had read with us more.  Dad added that as he meets with youth he can tell a lot by how well they can read.  One's ability and comfort level in reading does tend to affect how much someone chooses to read and understands.

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There's so much to read--practical things that are helpful in a moment--food labels, consumer reviews, warnings and rules for working or playing, the newspaper with events that have happened or will happen.  And there are the scriptures and teachings of prophets which, like a canon reed from a canon tree, is a measure of straightness or truth for other things we read.  There books or manuals for really helpful things like how to take care of a car, or preparing for a certification, or learning some kind of skill.  And there are books that are just fun to read because we can relate to the characters or the setting or the plot with it's problem and solution.  Or maybe we can't relate at all but it's interesting nonetheless.  There are plenty of other kinds of written material but these are the main kinds of things I read.

I'd like to get better at picking fun books to read with good stories.  The Children's Literature class that I took in college taught me a lot about picking out good books for kids; but I need to get better at finding gems in other kinds of literature for myself too.

Matt and I love reading books out loud together.  When we were dating we used to read P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories out loud with other kids in our ward.  The stories are about Wooster, a young single Englishman who is always getting himself into trouble, and his valet, Jeeves, who manages to come up with a solution to all of Wooster's dilemmas.  We also read a lot of children's books together for my Children's Literature class I was taking at the time...

When we first were married Matt used to read to me while I made dinner (or vice verca).  We read the Narnia series and The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.  We read The Hobbit, The Giver (not a huge fan), A Christmas Carol, and The Mansion (because President Monson talks about those two a lot), The Alchemist (because Joe likes it a lot), Mistbourne (Matt likes this children's fantasy series, I did not) and The Count of Monte Cristo (fantastic).  We've kind of gotten out of the habit of reading together since our sleep-deprivation days of newly parenthood.  Last week, however, I got a few children's books that are Newbery Honor books (this is an award given to one author a year for the most distinguished contribution to American children's literature for that year).  Matt read to me while I cooked again last night.  :)  It was wonderful!