may i share something with you? although my minds eye will never forget it i would like to document it just the same...
elle is seven, elle has just begun to read this year. her last visit in february she would read signs on the street mostly just one or two words at a time. that has changed now. i could not tell you how incredible it is to witness a little girl wanting to read, asking if she can go read. while vacationing we hit a book fair and we picked a few books for her. as we camped she would quietly go into the car retrieve the book grab her blanket and curl up in a chair by the fire, so quiet that i would forget she was there. i even found myself saying " elle use a head lamp you are going to hurt your eyes" she was reading really reading! i even found myself testing her one day when she said that she had finished a sixty page book ( child 60 page) i asked her what it was about and in detail she told me. it was clear to me that she truly had read it in it's entirety.
the other night i was reading a book in bed deep into it, when i had finally decided to put the book down and turn off the light i noticed elle, her pillow on the floor next to our bed, she was wrapped in her blanket reading a book she startled me! i said " elle what are you doing up it is three in the morning" her reply " i want to read i can't sleep..can you not turn of the light just yet" i have to tell you that my heart was fuller then it had been in a year, i was witnessing her new found love i have not stopped thinking of it since that night. i was not like her, although i read two or three books a week now it was not the case when i was her age. it was only when forced by my english teacher who even though i had aced my exam had accused me of not reading the book and she was right made me read it in class and till this day it has remained my favorite book( chrysalides) but it also begun my love for reading the second book was anna karinina and 14. it is truly a gift for my soul and eyes to see elle read.
* elle has correcting me as she read my post i was six when i started!
8 comments:
I am really looking forward to that in my boys. I like to read, and so does my husband, so we have bought books for our boys since before we had them! They see us reading and we have books all over the place. But on sunday, as I was snuggled up in my reading chair, my 3 year old asked to come and read with me. HE BROUGHT BOOK and snuggled next to me and started 'reading' telling himself the story as he remembers and making up conversations between the characters... it was one of those moments... And I'll never forget it!
So thanks for sharing about Elle, I think I know what you mean...
I love it when kids take a real interest in reading. I was a voracious reader growing up, and it hasn't really changed ;)
that was me when i was little! i'd be up at all hours reading! i've always been the type that once i start reading a book i get so engrossed i don't want to stop until i finished the book. glad your daughter is blessed with this interest.
so sweet! how lovely to be there to witness her falling in love with reading.
you just made me so happy, I have so tried to explain to these kids how wonderful it is to read, to actually hold a book in you hand (versus listening to the audio. they always made comments about how fast I read & how much I love it. But I never though one of them will actually go down that road. Way to go Elle.
What a lovely story!
My twin nieces are not quite four, and I'm so impatient to have them get into reading! I read books to them at bedtime, of course, as they're too little to read on their own. Still, I can see the cogs turning in one of them and I imagine she'll grow up to become a bookworm, just like her aunt. The other doesn't seem to have much of an interest, but I hope that changes!
she really is like a dream child isn't she? amazing!
Reading opens up such a magical world, and I remember the delight of discovering that myself. How lovely for you to witness this in Elle!
Post a Comment