When In Doubt, Look To The Books!

I saw this idea in a Blogher post and as I lack the proper plumbing to join and comment on the network I will make a post of my own.

You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel like you've lost a good friend. - Paul Sweeney

I may love reading now but before I was eight years old, it was a constant struggle. I had a horrible time reading in English and since I would always have to read out loud in school and stumbled I associated all reading with my failure. However, if you handed me something in Spanish I would have devoured it even if I struggled with some of the words in it.

Let me explain something that may be unclear, I could read in English as well as any 8 year old but only if it was to myself.

I remember it was the winter of 1996 and I was trying to read Green Eggs & Ham out loud to myself. Emphasis on trying. One of the librarians saw me having trouble and sat down with me to explain how to make the sounds like I heard them in my head and not replace them with Spanish sounds as I was wont to do.

Then this woman did something amazing for me. She bought me a book for Christmas. Wrapped and everything.



I was hooked from then on out. I tore through this series and at the same time many other fantastic worlds. There is nothing like pulling a warm blanket from the closet and sitting down with a good book on a cold day.

It's strange to think I used to have so much trouble with it. I remember laughing when I received an award in 7th grade for being one of the three most well-read kids in my middle school. When I graduated from high school, I boxed up all of my books and donated them to the libraries of my high school and my former elementary school.

I myself wasn't read to but I do read to Daybreak when I can. I read Peter Pan to her over the summer, then Horton Hatches the Egg and Green Eggs & Ham, now we've started on Alice in Wonderland. She'll even ask me if she can read it to me for a while and I or Eva just help her with the words she stumbles over.

So do a child a favour and read to them. Some day, they will thank you for it.



(Daybreak reading Eva's old collection of fairly tales. It took several tries to get her not to look up or laugh while Eva took this picture.)

P. S. Much internet love to anyone who can tell where the title came from without the services of Google.