It’s Children’s Book Week!
In honor of the annual national literacy initiative hosted by Every Child a Reader and sponsored by the Children’s Book Council, I will be sharing a series of the seven elements I love about children’s books. One element will be featured each day through Sunday, continuing with …
FAMILY BONDING
Developing literacy skills and independence in reading is a major milestone for children, but there’s a bit of magic during the years a child can’t read and wants to cuddle on an adult’s lap to hear a story.
Last year, the husband and I visited his brother and sister-in-law to celebrate the baptism of our nieces, Makenna and Hadley. As family remembers cycled through the house, I retired to the living room with Makenna.
Makenna plucked a book about Sophie the giraffe out of a crate full of books, climbed onto the couch beside me, and handed me the book. I understood my cue and read it aloud. When the story was finished, she slid off the couch to retrieve another book. We made it through eight books before everyone was summoned for lunch.
The moment sticks in my mind because Makenna and I usually interact in a crowd during family events. One-on-one time isn’t a frequent commodity for us. That half hour nestled together on the couch is priceless.
My older sister and I bonded over reading as well. A long-running family joke is how she hates the book DOWNY DUCK GROWS UP. In kindergarten, I checked out the 176-page early reader at least once a month and insisted someone read it to me. The task usually got assigned to my sister.
But later in my grade school years, she fell in love with the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede and voluntarily read all four books (each 200+ pages) aloud to me. That was my first introduction to one of my favorite children’s series.
Children’s literature offers a golden opportunity for adults to spend time with kids and bond as a family.
Read the series to date:
Julie Stroebel Barichello | Author 
Definitely! It’s a family activity that brings people together and encourages reading! It’s what gave me my voracious love of books!
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