{dear friend}

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” — Jacqueline Kennedy

My cousin Karyn (married in, if we’re being specific) posted on the Book of Faces the other day just how much fun she had reading Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends to her son Jack. She stated, “I really couldn’t tell you who enjoyed it more, him or me….”. I loved reading this. I loved reading this because, of course, I’m a teacher, and hearing about parents reading to their kids makes me giddy. I feel this happiness in my heart about reading to children. Children’s books are gold. They are fun. They are interesting. They are outrageous. They are magical. And reading aloud is something special, for all people involved. I know that when I love a book, it shows, and my students inevitable love it too. Reading is contageous. If you believe a book to be delightful, the children you’re with will delight in it too.

I know this to be true.

I read aloud numerous picture books and a bit from a chapter book every school day the whole year through. We are readers in my classroom and we’re proud. Besides reading aloud I encourage my kids to read what interests them. There’s time every day for independent reading and book exploring.

Every single kid in my class last year thought reading was the coolest.

I did what I set out to do.

Reading is the best. This is why I am a teacher. Reading is knowledge and reading is awesome.

Teach your kids to love to read. There is no lesson more important than that.