Reading Magic

I am reading yet another wonderful book that I wanted to share with you. Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox is all about the importance of reading aloud to children.

Here are a few interesting points that I took from the book:

** Experts say that on average, a child needs to hear a thousand stories read aloud before they are ready to begin reading. (This sounds like a lot, but reading just three stories a day easily covers a thousand books. You could read the same book three times, or try reading a favorite book, a familiar book and a new book).

**It is important to allow a child to talk back about what you read. As you read, make comments and ask questions about the plot, characters and pictures to engage the child in conversation.

**Read to your child from all sorts of print: signs, cereal boxes, newspapers, catalogs...

**Reading to a child from birth can help to increase a child's attention span. Children who are never read to have a hard time sitting through an entire story because they do not have the required listening skills or desire. (Look at the kids in my class if you don't believe me!! You can tell which children have been read to which haven't!)

Some of the topics in this book seem common sense, but maybe that's the teacher in me! I'm sure there are many parents who don't know how to make the most of the time they spend reading with their child. Reading aloud WELL is a skill you have to work at, so any one can benefit from practice. I would highly recommend this book to any parent or teacher. It's easy to read and well-written. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I feel that I learned some valuable information from it.

A little review...

I was a little embarrassed to buy it, but I had to see what all this hype over Twilight was about. Of course, I've seen the books displayed at Barnes and Noble, but I figured they were some poorly written youth novels...not something I would enjoy at all. When I started to see the previews for the film on TV, they looked intriguing, but I still wasn't sure the movie was for me. If you know me, you probably know that I love books, so the only logical thing to do in this situation was to read the book to see if the movie was even worth considering. I love the book Dracula, and several other books about supernatural subjects, but I have to admit that I am rather picky about them. I don't want to waste my time reading (or watching) some ridiculous, poorly written, dime-store novel. Lately, I've seen postings and reviews all over the Internet, magazines, and TV claiming to love Twilight, all of them increasing my curiosity. Even my sister Lindsey (who HATES to read) mentioned that she had read the book and enjoyed it. That was what convinced me to give it a chance.

Needless to say, I was skeptical when I picked up Twilight on Saturday afternoon and carried it to the checkout counter. Jason and I finished our Christmas shopping and drove back to Mount Vernon. Later that evening, I pulled out the book and began to read...and kept on reading. I finished the 500 page book yesterday. Now, I'm a fast reader when I'm interested, and though this book was by no means a difficult book to read, it was well-written and so engrossing that I couldn't put it down. In my opinion, it is one of the most original and exciting novels I've read in a long time. It may be intended for teenagers (the characters in the book are in high school), but I found it very enjoyable as an adult. If the film is anywhere near as good as the book, it is going to be fantastic. It's one of those books you don't want to end. I have a feeling I will be buying the next book in the series very soon...

I give it two thumbs up!

Note: I think you do have to have some appreciation for fantasy to enjoy this novel. If you get hung up on the realism of books and you can't have fun with subject matter such as vampires, this may not be the book for you. For example, Jason may not like this book. I think this because in the movie The Lakehouse, he could not accept the idea that the characters were sending mail through time. If something like that bothers you, you probably cannot enjoy this book. Otherwise, happy reading!