Catching My Kids Reading

It's International Book Week! It's so timely because just recently, I caught my son, Badger, reading my book, Beauty and The Beast. It's no accident. I introduced the book to him. What's so special about it is it was my book from childhood.

You'll still see my childishly written name on the fly leaf!

I read it to him the other night and we pointed out words that were unfamiliar to him like: harbour (explained that it's where ships dock just like what Pearl Harbor was to the battle ships in the movie, Battle Ship), exhausted, beast ("Moomoo?" he asked and I said yes, in a way, but more like an animal, like a tiger or a lion) and many more. It was even more fun because he pointed out that there were badgers in one of the illustrated pages. We laughed over that. I noticed that he has such a compassionate heart because he immediately knew that the beast was crying in the picture. "Why is he crying, Mama?" I notice that Badger loves to comfort people when they are in pain.

I thought that he wouldn't be interested in the book after I read it to him. It just happened to be there at the time and he would go back to his Dr. Seuss books. But no. This morning I saw him look for it and sit down on the floor with it. It was a warm and memorable moment for me. Yes, it was no accident because I introduced the book to him. But it was just really special for me because he looked for it on his own.

There's just really something heartwarming about knowing that the book that I read as a kid is still appreciated by my own son. That he sees the same magic that I saw while flipping through those beautifully illustrated pages.

Reading is something that I want my kids to catch from me. Here's to more of those wonderful, magical moments!

Badger Loves Jazz: Reading (and Listening) to Duck Ellington and Ella Elephant

By Justine C. Tajonera

I had a lot of fun last night, playing the CDs of Ella Elephant Scats Like That and Duck Ellington Swings through the Zoo and reading the books to Badger. They were great learning tools, just like Charlie Bird Counts to the Beat, and a great way to help Badger learn how to read.

The Ella Elephant book was cute because I could lead Badger through some nonsense words and just focus on the sounds that they made. I pointed out the letters and their sounds and how it would all sound if we put them together (sound recognition). Plus, Badger got to listen to Ella Elephant make the scat sounds and relate them to musical instruments.

Duck Ellington was also really cute because I realized that Badger recognized some of the animals from Charlie Bird Counts to the Beat like the turtles and the seals! And Vier and I just enjoyed the swing sound.

I guess it made an impression with Badge because before I left for work, he wanted me to read Ella Elephant to him first. I hope Badger will have a genuine love for reading books.

(Jan. 13, 2010)