The joys of reading aloud

The first book I discovered at the Open Door Bookstore probably changed our family's life more fundamentally than any other single book I can recall. Until I read The Read Aloud Handbook, it somehow had never occurred to me that I should still keep reading aloud to my children indefinitely, even after they became fluent and voracious independent readers.

Perhaps this was already immediately obvious to everyone else in the world. Certainly, it SHOULD have been obvious to me because I have so many treasured memories of my own dad reading to me long after I could read. Even now, years after his death, I can still hear his wonderful rich and deep voice in my head reverberating with the words of the Narnia books, of Winnie-the-Pooh, of The Wind and the Willows, of Willa Cather, and more.

But I had forgotten all this until I discovered Jim Trelease's book. I remember buying the book at the Open Door and taking it to a nearby coffee shop, sitting down to read it, totally entranced and greedily gobbling up his eminently sensible evangelism for reading aloud to children, even after they can read.

And so I determined that I would never stop reading to my children, and now they are grown and I have hours upon hours of happy memories of reading aloud to them. I also have many happy memories of snuggling with my daughters and listening to my husband read to all of us.

And indeed, I also have treasured memories of reading aloud to my own parents. My dad suffered from Parkinson's disease in his last years, which made it hard for him to enjoy many things he had once done, including reading. Listening to his children and grandchildren read to him was always a magical experience, both for my dad and for the person reading to him.

I've also enjoyed reading aloud to my mother and my husband. You know how they talk about a "runner's high." I think I get a "reader's high" from reading aloud. I pretty much enjoy reading aloud to anyone who will listen!