Instilling The Love Of Books In Your Child

One of my earliest memories as a child was of a desperate longing to learn how to read. I used to gape in awe at the books in the library of Maryknoll College in Kapalong (a small town just outside Davao City, Philippines), where my mother used to teach. I’d stare at illustrations of Pinocchio digging up a hole to bury his gold coins, aching to know what mysteries those words and letters lay hidden in the hallowed pages of those voluminous books.

I could hardly contain my excitement when I turned 6 and attended Kindergarten for the first time — I couldn’t wait to finally learn how to read! Excitement quickly turned to disappointment and heartbreak when my teacher told me that I was too young to start learning how to read. Imagine that — a teacher telling an eager child who so desperately wanted to learn that she was too young!!

Things have changed so much since then. Now, children start schooling as early as 3 or 4 years old and start learning to read at a much more tender age. My children have started reading simple words and phrases on their own when they were 4.

Now, MyEldest finishes junior novels at an astonishing pace. He’d curl up on the couch with a book picked out from the National Library, chuckle in some places, laugh at loud in some, then get up a couple of hours later, triumphantly declaring, “I’m done.” I was initially incredulous and asked him a few questions about the book to test his comprehension. His correct answers got rid of any skepticism that I had.

My other children are into books, as well. RoundBoy loves science-related books. OnlyGirl loves stories about magic. The twins love books with animals.

     
RoundBoy reading to the twins without being told. (I was playing Diner Dash at that time and, noticing how quiet they’ve become, I peeked to see what they were doing…then quickly grabbed my camera and took a few shots.)

You, too, can instill a love for books in your child. The earlier you start, the better.

Start off with simple black and white patterns for infants. Hold the image at a distance similar to that between a mother’s face and her baby’s when she’s holding him in her arms. Allow your baby to stare at the images for a few seconds, watch how the pupils dilate, indicating interest, then change to a different pattern. It’s a good exercise for them to learn how to focus.

Around the time when your child can sit by himself, start introducing board books with big colourful pictures of common everyday objects. Point out the pictures one by one — “Apple. Ball. Cat.” — and if you find a picture that you can link to a song or a nursery rhyme, don’t hesitate to break into song anytime. For example, if you see the picture of a spider, say “Spider” a couple of times, then start singing “Incy-wincy spider”, complete with hand gestures. The song will help reinforce the word. At the same time, it keeps up your child’s interest, for all children love music.

By the time your child is around 1 1/2 to 2 years old, lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel books would very much appeal to them. Get the sturdy ones — they’re costlier but they’d last longer. Read the story out loud, then prompt the child when to lift the flap or touch the ‘fur’ on the bunny, asking them to repeat some words as you point them out. You’ll find that they’d ask you to read the books that they like again and again and again, until they memorize how the story goes.

After 2 years old, you can then start to introduce simple short stories, like ‘Goldilocks and The Three Bears’, ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’, and ‘The Three Little Pigs’. Pick out the versions that have shorter sentences. For example, we have two versions of ‘Goldilocks and The Three Bears’ at home. The version that I read out loud to the twins goes something like ‘One day, the three bears went out. Goldilocks came.’ The other version that RoundBoy reads is a bit more wordy — ‘Once upon a time, there were three bears who lived in the forest. They loved to eat porridge. One day, the three bears went out for a walk. A little girl named Goldilocks was walking along the forest when she saw the three bears’ cottage.’ The wordier version might make younger children lose interest, as younger children tend to have shorter attention spans.

By the time your toddlers start to appreciate the short version books, you can gradually introduce them to the lengthier versions. Keep their interest up by reading with voices — a squeaky, high-pitched one for a mouse, a gruff and booming one for The Big Bad Wolf. Pick out books with nice, colourful drawings or photographs and with big, easy-to-read fonts. In time, you’ll see that they’ll start to pick out the tiniest details in the illustrations and link them to the story.

In order to be more effective in introducing reading to your children, it would help a lot if they see you — their parents — reading books, magazines and newspapers once in a while. You can even set aside some special time when the TV must be turned off and everyone has to read. And then, there’s the universally popular bedtime story. Just make sure to pick out the less exciting stuff and/or minimize the acting/voices part a bit, so as not to stimulate them too much until they can’t fall asleep!

Books need not be limited to story books. At one time, I borrowed from the National Library a book with lots of animal pictures in it. Never mind if everything else was written in Mandarin. The twins only wanted to see the animals and know their names.

At times when books are not available, like, in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, where only fashion magazines are available, I’d simply browse through the pictures and point out familiar objects to the twins — bubbles, orange, umbrella, car, shoes. If you find a new item that they don’t know yet, repeat the word several times while pointing out the object. Tell your child a little bit about the object. ‘Umbrella. You use an umbrella when it rains.’ Something like that.

Keep up your children’s interest in reading by constantly introducing new items for them to read. Take them to libraries, where they can pick out their own books. Buy them books as presents on birthdays and other special occasions. Take home some of those free inflight magazines. Introduce to them the Reader’s Digest.

God-willing, with a little perseverance and a bit of time, you, too, can successfully instill the love of reading in your child.