The pages that bind

Ten times this past weekend I read it: “Moo moo buzz buzz pop pop pop!”  Even so, I’ll never get tired of reading Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss to our one-year-old granddaughter. There’s something about reading aloud and sharing words with other people that creates a mighty bond.

My Language Lab students know it.  We’ve been reading aloud a book called The Afterlife by Gary Soto.  They are captivated by this story about a teen who is randomly stabbed and killed in the first chapter and then narrates the entire story after his death.  In class, we never seem to have enough time to read it aloud. Even though these kids say they hate to read, our discussions are rich.  Everyone has an opinion.  We are bound together by this book.

I guess I have my family to thank for loving to read.  

Some of my best kid memories involve reading with others:  Sharing the latest Archie and Richie Rich comic books with my sister.  Inheriting a set of The Happy Hollisters when my older brothers were too old to care about the family of seven who solved mysteries On a River Trip and At Snowflake Camp. Listening to my mother read James Whitcomb Riley’s “The Bear Story” to us on a summer night, in a perfect old-time Hoosier dialect.

Even before I was an ELA teacher, I new I wanted to foster reading experiences for my own kids.  It started with Mr. Brown, but escalated as the kids developed their own interests.  In 1998, Great Aunt Connie started them on the first Harry Potter book, and we all were hooked.  Several times, we stayed up until midnight for a new release and shoved our way through the crowded Walmart to get at least two copies, so no one had to wait for more than one other reader to finish.  And then the debates began: Why couldn’t Voldemort be named?  Was Snape secretly a good guy?  Would Hermione and Harry end up together?

As they grew older, we read The Kite Runner and Outliers and The Know-It-All.  We read classical literature and self-help books and philosophy and humor.  We shared anything that we read that was provocative or amusing or quaint.

And so it still goes. Even though my kids are grown, we continue to share reading experiences. 

These days, I’m more likely to see a satiric piece from The Onion or a provocative essay from Slate pop up in my email than an actual book review, although that does happen occasionally.  But no matter what the genre, we still keep reading… and talking or texting… together.

Times change.  Our interests shift.  But it’s not too late to start sharing reading with your kids, no matter how old they are. 

Share a sports page, a funny comic strip, a daily devotional.  Share a news story, a home renovation blog, the latest best seller. Keep reading and talking or emailing or texting.  Reading together creates shared experiences that our busy lifestyles today often can’t.  Reading together creates lasting memories and irrevocable bonds.  Reading together keeps us together.