The Read-Aloud Family

The Read-Aloud Family

Parenting
I waited until my Amber was four weeks old before I read her her
first board book. Her Florida Grammie had come to visit. I wanted
Amber's first literary experience to include the person who cultivated
in me my love for the printed word. I chose a volume in which Ruthie
Rabbit visited the seashore because of my mother's love of the ocean.
Mom has since passed. Amber has grown up and moved on to more
sophisticated fare. (They haven't written Ruthie Rabbit Gets Her PhD
In Physics). The memory of that moment in time is crystal clear and
precious.
Read alouds were a big part of my parenting. My kids and I were
extremely lucky. I was doing regular children's book reviews for the
Bangor Daily News. Publishers were constantly sending me big boxes of
books they wanted me to write about. My children were always so eager
to dive into these boxes, looking for hot off the press treasures.
Before bed, on rainy days, and at totally random times I'd get
requests. [Other techniques I used were leaving interesting books in
places where my children could discover them, letting them see me read
for pleasure, randomly sharing facts and passages as I read, and
reading what they recommended. We had very lively book discussions!]
In a neighborhood where this was not the norm the Hathaways were known
as that reading family.
My advisor who was also my professor for assessments and her
wife are expecting a baby. I will take great delight in assigning her
Sarah Mackenzie's The Read-Aloud Family as homework. But you don't
need her PhD to grasp and fall hard for this very valuable volume.
As a first time parent, Mackenzie had visions of the kind of
parent she wanted to be. She just wasn't sure how to get there. [A
common state of affairs. Those beautiful babies sadly don't come with
instruction booklets.] At a friend's house she discovered Jim
Trelease's The Read-Aloud Handbook and found it to be a real eye
opener. Not only did its ideas become guiding principles as she
raised and home schooled six children, but it inspired her to create a
pod cast which led to the writing of the book.
MacKenzie knows that even with the best of intentions reading
aloud can get lost in the turbulence of dailiness. Our days are
fragmented. We think we're no longer needed when the kids can read on
their own. We must compete with the fast action, bright lights, and
instant gratification of the screens. We may fear that we don't know
what books are best. She addresses these and so many other issues,
giving valuable strategies to help parents create and cherish those
magic, memory making moments that happen when families engage
themselves in stories.
In you have kids still to home or frequently visiting grands
you'll find The Read-Aloud Family to be a most excellent investment.
On a purrrsonal note, I have the answers to the 2 concerns my kids
have about my having a new cat. One is that the house isn't clean
enough. I am so on that! A lot of the stuff I thought I need I
really don't. So I am going through everything I own. A friend will
help me with a thrift shop run. I now have a real motive for a clean
house. The second is money. They're afraid that if Tobago needs an
operation like Joey did we'll put it on the card. But if Tobago has a
savings account with $2,000? So how do I do that without involving
Eugene or my day job money? First: gift money. I have $430 in
birthday and Christmas money. Then there's returnables money.
There's change. I have all those little banks full of change I can
kick in. I don't need a bunch of little banks. Finally I'll try to
get some side gigs like babysitting. I bet when I put in the gift
money and all the change I'll be a quarter of the way. There's a good
chance this time next year I'll be at least half way. I am once again
full of energy. I haven't had this kind of energy since Joey was
diagnosed with cancer.
A great big shout out goes out to the sweet little cat in my life who
means so much more to me than anything I can buy in a store.
jules hathaway


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