Reading as a Family

As we await the birth of our great-niece, I am feeling all the warm fuzzies and nostalgia of a Momma Bear. My now-grown daughters, my husband, and I all picked our favorite children’s books for baby Baker. “ In lieu of card… ” the shower invite said. What a glorious way to share something we love so much! My giant Momma heart fondly remembers snuggling up with our girls, freshly bathed and smelling of sweet baby shampoo, and reading our favorites: Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I’m Gonna Like ME, Sheila Rae the Brave and The Kissing Hand. These same titles await baby Baker in her own personalized library. Better yet, they even include handwritten notes from all those who love her. In giving this gift, we don’t think of the fuel we are providing for little Baker to ignite her love of literacy; but we are. As for my own daughters, I want to believe it was the countless hours of bedtime stories, ‘read to me’ requests, and family read-alouds of Junie B Jones and Harry Potter that fueled their passion for print. Each of my girls followed their nerdy book Mom’s love for written expression in their own ways: Kate was a lover of all things Roald Dahl, Captain Underpants and joke books; while Rachel ate up books like The Twilight Series , anything about fairies, and eventually Sarah Dressen. Perhaps sharing our love for books is enough, but it never hurts to invite family and friends to fuel that fire.