My love of reading started when I was very tiny, and my mom said I would sit by myself for hours with my books, happy as anything. I love reading so much that it is something I love to share with Isabelle, and it's something I hope she enjoys as she grows up too.
I think it's fairly normal for parents to read with their little people, and we are no exception. I love to read with Isabelle and, despite his own lack of interest in reading, Simon does too. Both sets of parents, and even aunts and uncles, are always eager to pick up a book, and I think it is wonderful that Isabelle - and her cousins - are surrounded by books every day.
In one of our downstairs bookshelves, Isabelle has her own little shelf of stories, with some more up in her room. It's not a huge collection, but there is plenty there to keep us going, and we have a bit of everything. I always say that books are the one gift you can never receive too many of, so I know that with every special occasion to come in the future, the pile of books will grow and grow. Noisy books, touchy/feely books, picture books, short stories, long stories, poems, nursery rhymes...we have a few of them all. She has her favourites of course, and some of the books aren't quite appropriate for her just yet, but there is always plenty for her to choose from. We have some 'bedtime' stories in our room which she reads while she gets changed for bed - they are 3 Bookstart stories which I got free from our health visitor, and which we have been reading for months to her. We don't actually read them anymore, she takes them herself and leafs through. One in particular is her current fave - a lift-the-flap book, which she adores as she knows the name of everything hiding under the flaps, and loves lifting the flap to say "cup/car/duck/teddy/baby". It's incredible to see her 'reading' on her own, and enjoying it so much. One of the other Bookstart books is fantastic as she can say the word at the end of every rhyming couplet (nose, toes, while, smile, bubbles, cuddles, bed, head), and she has started parroting those off as we read the verses. Watching her engage so readily with her books, and at such a young age, is amazing.
Isabelle's favorite books is one which came to us in a Nonabox. At first, I was not convinced and thought the whole thing was a bit silly - but now it is a firm favorite. The very last section reads:
"I may be small, but I can see, the biggest thing to you is....ME!"
It's such a sweet ending to a story, and is another one which she engages with, by yelling "ME!' at the very end, and since that is also the name of the book, she has learnt to ask for that particular story by saying "Me" as she points to the bookcase.
I think it's probably also fairly normal for parents to want to read to their children the stories they had as a child, and so many of the books we have for Isabelle are stories we had as children - either the very same book, or a new version.
Simon loves to read "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" with her, as it was one of his favorite books as a child, and it's the copy he had when he and his sister were little.
One of my favorite books as a child was "Owl at Home", which is about a silly owl and the things he gets up to - like making Tear-Water Tea, or trying to be upstairs and downstairs at the same time. It's also the copy I had when I was little.
My sister bought Isabelle The Jolly Postman book for Christmas, as it was one of our favourites when we were little - she isn't quite allowed to touch it yet, as it has lots of little pull out bits which her crazy mommy doesn't want her to ruin! When I saw the Enid Blyton Magic Faraway Tree collection on sale at a garden centre, I had to buy them for Isabelle as I remember reading them over and over again as a child and adoring them. They are too old for her for now, but I can't wait for us to share them together.
Reading is so important to me, even though I haven't managed to find much time for it recently, and I hope that by reading lots with Isabelle while she is tiny, she will develop the same love for books and be a life long reader. It opens up a whole world to little people - and bigger people - and allows their imaginations to grow and explore places they may otherwise never reach. Hopefully, I am raising a little bookworm, who will keep some of her books to share with her own babies in the future.
