Mia puts the kids to bed most nights and reads stories to
our younger two children, but Sunday night is my time to put them to bed as she
is at her small group. I have been learning to try and enjoy that time and slow
down. I used to rush it because on Sunday night I am tired after working all
day and being around people, which wears me out as an introvert.
Two things have
helped me to slow down and enjoy putting the kids. The first is the countless
times I have been told by people to enjoy this time. Parents with teenagers and
older adults have shared with me how precious this time is with little
children. A few times I have heard the expression that the days are long, but
the years are short. So I have been trying to remind myself that in the not too
distant future I might be yearning for the times the little ones sat on my lap
and I could kiss their cheeks.
A second key I found to simply enjoying this time and
slowing down is the books I choose to read to them. To be blunt, there are a
bunch of crappy children’s books. There are books that are just a drudgery to
read that I find myself trying to plough through so I can just “get it over
with.” Someday when no one is around or I get permission I am just going to
purge all the books I just cannot stand. I cannot stand the books that talk
about what people do all day or just show shapes or colors. I’m not an educator
but I really doubt they do any good for children and they are torture to read.
I have found that good children’s books have a few elements.
First, like any good story there is a story, it is going somewhere. Obviously,
the stories aren’t epics or major tragedy or dramas but there is a story. There
is a feeling of movement.
Second, great children’s books have a cadence to them. There
is a rhythm to them and they are fun to read aloud. There are fun phrases to
repeat and I can get into them. One of my favorite books is Click Clack Moo:
Cows That Type. The book keeps repeating, “Click, Clack, Moo. Click, Clack Moo.
Clickety, Clack Moo.” It is just fun to read aloud.
My favorite children’s book is Duck on a Bike by David
Shannon is about a duck riding a buck and the different responses by the farm
animals. While reading the book aloud, it is very easy to get into the
character of each animal.
Third, great children’s books tend to have repetition. The
story is going somewhere, but a line or phrase or something gets repeated over
and over again. It is a phrase that is often fun to say but also moves the
story along.
Below are some books I like to read to my kids. What books
do you like to read to children?
Duck on A Bike by David Shannon
Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long and David Shannon
If you give a mouse a cookie by Laura Numeroff
How do dinosaurs series by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
Where the wild things are by Maurice Sednak
Frog and Toad are Friends – Arnold Lobel
Owl at home – Arnold Lobel
