The Value of Books: Children and Reading

I am a book LOVER. I would own every book imaginable if I could. If I were Oprah rich, I would buy a library and sit there and read for hours and days and weeks on end. At one point when I was in grade six or seven, I had read all of the books in the Bookmobile that came to our neighborhood - and could tell you what each was about.

I love the smell of books. I love the feel of books - hardcover or softcover, it doesn't matter. I love reading books on my iPad. I love listening to books as they are read to me. I. Love. Books. I love reading newspapers and will read anything I can. Even upside down on your desk...

And I want my children to love reading too.

While I want my children to love books that mean something, I realize the value in "garbage reading." What is garbage to me is often a gem to my children. Case in point: the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series. I don't like the meanness, bullying, and irresponsibility portrayed in the books. However, my boy loves them. My goal is to get my son reading so I have purchased several in the series for him and we have listened to them on audiobook in the car. I just have to follow up with life lessons so he doesn't treat others that way.

Our son's principal recognized the love he and several boys in the class had for all things Titanic when they were in first grade. She purchased new library books on the Titanic at their reading level. This helped to bring a heavy topic to a child's comprehension level. My son is an artist so he draws everything he is reading. It's a double benefit for him.

What holds your child's interest? If it's Barbie then let your daughter read Barbie books. If it's Sonic the Hedgehog, buy some Sonic cartoon books. Personally, I believe that what gets your children reading is what is important. You can work with them on the content later.

My children are ages 9 and 6 right now. I still read to them. I thought I should be phasing it out, especially for the oldest. But then I read a few articles that talk about the value of reading to your children well beyond middle school. Reading to your children helps them to understand the cadence/rhythm and pronunciation of words. It helps them develop and improve literacy skills such as increasing their vocabulary, improves attention span, nurtures emotional development, stimulates imagination, and improves problem-solving and analytical thinking.

Children listen on a higher level than they read so listening to adult readers stimulates growth and understanding of vocabulary and language patterns. It enables them to "read" books beyond their literacy level. Plus, it builds memories and bonds with your children.

I will tell you that reading with your child need not be drudgery. Once, our local librarian said her daughter hated "Alice the Fairy" but I was convinced my daughter would love it. I put on a "fairy" voice and so began my children's love affair with Alice. We bought the book for our home library. I even read it in that crazy voice for my daughter's classmates - and they LOVED it!!!

When I read a "Series of Unfortunate Events" to my children, I use a British accent. And when I read Elephant and Piggy books by Mo Willems, I use a politically incorrect southern African American male voice. The point is, have fun with the books. Find the voice of the book that works for your family.

Well, I must end this now so I can go live what I just preached. I am getting ready to read "The Littles" to them right now. What are you reading to your children?

The Littles

Do you remember reading "The Littles" when you were a kid? I LOVED the Little family. I used to wish we had tiny humans with mouse tails living in our walls.

In fact, one time, we had a 2"x2" hole in a wall by the baseboard and I told a friend that the Littles lived in the walls and used that hole to get in and out. In hindsight, she probably thought we had mice. No mice. Just my very vivid 10-year old imagination.

I'm always in search of book series' to grab my children's interests. (I got them hooked on Lemony Snickets "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and Motor Mouth hooked on "39 Clues.") Needless to say, I was extremely happy when the children jumped on board and got excited about me reading The Littles to them. Did you know that there is value in reading aloud to children right through middle school and beyond? Reading to your children should no stop once they can read to themselves.

I found the first Littles book in the series at a Barnes & Noble in town. I found 6 more in the series while hanging out in-store at www.Open-Books.org (great organization, check them out). I ordered two more from Scholastic through school. Now I'm on the hunt for the final 3 titles I'm missing.

We are an excited family!

What I'm Reading

Sadly, my current life expectations prohibit me the luxury of sitting and reading a book, whether paper or on my iPad. It is a shame, because I LOVE reading. But, I have discovered audio books!!!

Audible on iPhone

- Purple Cow by Seth Godin

- Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan & Dharmesh Shah

Free?

If you sign up for a free Audible membership, you get 2 books free.

Audiobooks on iPhone

- Anna of Five Towns by Arnold Bennett

Free?

Some books are offered free.
The only downside of this is that I'm on Part 8 of 14 and on the 3rd person reading to me. This works if you like the voices. I don't care for the current voice but I love the story.

On My iPad

- Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell

Not Free?

The only one I paid for was Port Mortuary. Technically, J paid for that as it was one of my Christmas presents. See, Christmas. It's taking me 2 months to read a book by my favorite author!

Book on CD in Car

- Ramona and Beezus (I have kids!)

Free?

I have started borrowing kids' books on CD from our local library.

Keeps the kids quiet in the car.

The Language of Love & Respect

If you only read 1 relationship book, 'The Language of Love & Respect' by Dr Emerson Eggerichs, should be it. Communication is the core of relationships and Dr. Eggerichs makes it clear how to bring out the best in your relationship through personal change and growth - and easy to follow steps!

'The Language of Love and Respect' by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, published by Thomas Nelson doesn't deal so much with gender 'roles' as it does gender 'communication'. It was about, well, love and respect. It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman. You need to love and respect your partner. Eggerichs gets to the core and then gives you simple to follow help on how to improve yourself - not your partner.

Pop culture is all about communication. 'The Language of Love and Respect' is about successfully communicating with the most important person in your life. Communication is a process. 'The Language of Love and Respect' challenged me. It made me look at things differently and work on them differently. This is a book I need to keep handy so I can reference back to work on another aspect of my attitude and approach to my marriage. It is well worth purchasing for yourself and for a newly married couple in your life. Or as an anniversary gift for couple that has been married awhile - sometimes we get into a rut.


This is the second book and you need not feel like you are left out if you did not read 'Love and Respect' because Dr Emerson Eggerichs gives a synopsis of the first book at the beginning of 'The Language of Love and Respect.' That was a nice feature. From the sounds of 'Love and Respect', that might be worth reading as well. As always, I PLAN to give my free copy away to my blogosphere. However, I need to hold on this one. It's so good!!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Obstacles Welcome

Obstacles Welcome by Ralph de la Vega is my new favorite book. I've read a LOT of leadership books so I was a bit 'enh' on reading yet another. I really wanted to be a part of the Thomas Nelson: Book Review Bloggers program. The book I wanted was not available, so I ordered what seemed like an interesting read. Ralph de la Vega had me at the first sentence: 'Only the boy can go."

de la Vega takes us from his traumatic separation from his parents in Cuba at age 10 through some of the most well-known mergers and tragedies in America. Along the way, leadership lessons applicable to Fortune 500 CEOs and stay@home moms are clearly and simply taught by a man who makes you want to be a better person and cheers you on to surpass your dreams.


At the end of each chapter, Ralph de la Vega provides Takeaway Points to reinforce the most important concepts. They are each perfect sound bites you can post on your mirror as a daily reminder to turn adversity into advantage in business and in life.


What I like about Obstacles Welcome is the simplicity and humanity of it. It's not just a leadership book. It's a life planning guide written by your favorite uncle who has your best interest at heart.


I was going to give some deserving reader my complimentary review copy in a blog giveaway but I'm keeping this book. Go buy your own. And while you are at it, buy a copy for EVERYONE on your Christmas list. I want to give a copy to every CEO I know, to every teenager, every college student, private school administrator and stay@home mom I have ever met. This book is THAT good.

This is a must-have book. You must go purchase.


Here is a SMALL sampling of Obstacles Welcome soundbites:
- It's never too late to become the driver of your own journey & begin to turn adversity into advantage.

- Today's world is flat, and by that, I mean that competition comes from all corners.

- Unlearning is part of getting better. World changing too fast to do anything else. Knowledge/situations change. So must we.

- Embracing obstacles sounds so simple...So why do we spend so much time and effort trying to avoid difficulties?

- When disaster hits, put your own people first. That's the surest way to...get your business back up and running fastest.

What I Have Going

I'm in the process of reading these 3 books...

I am going to read this book

then review it for Thomas Nelson.

They sent it to me for free to review.

Mini Me has some speech delays.

Gotta help my baby girl!!

I learned last week that a LOT

of moms deal with anger.

We expected about 45 people to attend a

moms meeting on anger management

 in moms and children.

Almost 100 women attended!!

I'm Working On It

This is my current reading material. I have several purses that I rotate. There's a book in each, or on the coffee table.

What is on your current list of Required Reading?

Head on over to The Happy Housewife

to get some great book ideas!

The Shack

I just finished reading 'The Shack' by William P. Young. Currently, The Shack is "THE" book to read among Christian circles. People seem to either love it or hate it. I'm going to tell you the basic premise of the book. Nothing I say will give away the ending. 

The Shack is a NOVEL. It is a story, written by a father for his kids, that got published. It is NOT a textbook. 

The Shack is a novel about a man, Mack, whose daughter is murdered. Her body is found in a shack. A few years after the murder, the family is still in midst of thick grief. Mack gets an invitation from God to return to the shack. Once there, Mack has an encounter with the Godhead - God the father, son, and holy spirit.  

Fine enough premise. Some people have had near death or out of body experiences in which they encountered the trinity or one of the three. Where this book takes you is not like any of the other stories. You have to remove your theological glasses and remove your personal lenses that tint the way you see and relate to God. If you don't, I think you will hate the book.

I believe the book is trying to make you think about God in terms of a relational being and not a stern task master that decrees and controls us little puppets down here. The book tries to get us to put aside the religiousness of our lives and live in the freedom God wants us to live in. It's not about the rules or the hierarchy. It's about having unique, two-way relationships with each member of the Godhead. 

Yeah, there were times in the book where I thought it was hokey. But you just have to put all of that aside and go with it. That's what the book is about. Putting aside what we humans think is right and wrong, black and white, and just going with it. Most of how we relate to God is based on an Earth to Heaven viewpoint. This book gives us the view from the top down. And it is a much easier view on the eyes.

Did I like the book? I'm not sure it is a question of liking. Did the book challenge me? Absolutely. Will I approach God and my life differently. I sure hope so.

What Am I Reading These Days?

I'm Studying...!

We picked up the handbooks Monday morning. I'm studying for the written drivers exam.

A New Earth

I bought the book "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle and I am going to read it. Why? Well, for one, I am sick of Christians just going along with what 'they' say is not good or is bad. So often, we just blindly go with what the 'right' tells us and we don't investigate and form opinions for ourselves.

I don't believe God would have us be ignorant, blind followers. Jesus hung out with the people of the day. He lived among them and walked among them. That's how he was able to relate to them. For crying out loud, He came down off his high Heavenly throne and chilled on Earth for 33 years. He was about his father's business, but He wasn't hooping it up in the temple all day long. Jesus got his sandals dirty.

There is all this hoopla in the Christian community about how Oprah is creating her own new cult and blah, blah, blah. Is she? I don't know. Maybe. Probably not though. Cult leaders tend to be nurturing types, whereas she doesn't want children and seems to do better with dogs.

I am going to read the book for myself. I listened to Eckhart Tolle talk on Oprah's show while I was packing. Some of what he said made sense. To be honest, right now, I could use some of his motivational mumbo jumbo.

My plan is to take the good and weed out the freakish and see where it lands me. But you know, I'm not going to run from it with my tail between my legs and my hands on my ears, singing "holy, holy, holy!"

Saturday April 26, 2008 - 09:31pm