This just in from GrowingYourBaby:
Study: Kids Want More Stories at Bedtime
New research shows that almost two thirds of children want their parents to read to them more often.
While I question some of the statistics uncovered by Disney/Cars Storyteller’s Collection, the premise seems to be so obvious at first. Of course children want their parents to read to them. Of course they want more stories. But then, I have to remember that I'm trained as a children's librarian and am the daughter of a children's librarian. I'm thinking from a position of privilege:
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be --
I had a mother who read to me.
-- Strickland Gillilan (1869-1954)
Add "father", "aunties", "uncles" and more benevolent grownups, and that poem pretty much sums it up for me.
Make of this article what you will. Spread the good news.
Thanks to Mama Lisa's World for the link.
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9 comments:
Naturally they do. Bedtime stories are cuddly, warm, relaxing times. They invoke love and dreams.
But this is great evidence to help me encourage my writing and fairy tale students to read to their kids as much as possible.
You went to GC? The world is small. What a wonderful connection!
My daughter ended up at IU Bloomington and I teach at IU at South Bend.
Can't wait to see my little dolly!
Bedtime stories rock...
Wombat doesn't want me to read to him anymore... Munchkin went through a stage of screaming everytime I opened a book (don't ask me why - I don't know) so that kind of took the joy out of it for a while... then I made up a story about one of the characters Wombat had liked on tv & beenm talking about (he only watches for 1 hour after dinner).
I tell you, the producers of Tractor Tom and Mama Mirabelle should employ me as a scriptwriter, because now I have to come up with ten+ new stories a day for these characters lol. Whenever I offer to read, I get "NO! I want an imagination story."
At 11 months, Munchkin has finally decided he likes books - but only touchy-feely ones. If I read him anything else he searches the illustration with his fingers, desperately trying to find some tactile element to make the experience worthwhile lol.
It's amazing how different the boys are, because Wombat would listen for hours to just about anything I read aloud! Maybe Munchkin just heard too much of it in utero???
In a sneaky and underhanded way I am now preparing Wombat for my upcoming daily absence by having Tractor Tom's "mummy" going to work each morning before Tom wakes up and getting home late at night while Tom has lovely adventures with his "daddy" and "brother"... it seems to be working!
This is how I feel all the time. All I ever want to talk to other parents about (well, not all, but 99% of the time) is children's lit, and mostly I get met with ennui. I keep feeling drawn to public librarianship. Maybe I really need to do it one day (as opposed to school) so that I'll meet those parents who really DO wnat to hear about it.
I'm rambling, aren't it? Great link!
I believe there's not much a parent can do that's more beneficial to their kids than reading them lots of bedtime stories. I read my son 2 or 3 bedtime stories every night. But I'm not at all surprised by the results of this study. Kids will always want more bedtime stories ad infinitum. They postpone bedtime.
KateW: Small world indeed! I hope you enjoy your little doll, and trust that you will get your package soon.
LSM: Yes!
Schelle: Thanks for your in-depth comment. You might be interested to know that a few years ago, I brought out a book to read to a young friend. He burst into tears. I didn't understand why until his mom said that he was only read stories at bedtime. I hope that has changed.
Jules: Once again, I wished we lived in the same town. I tend to be rather laconic in person unless a particular topic of interest comes up: children's lit, teen lit, fairy tales, songs one can play on the guitar... you know, the good stuff.
Christian: One of my favorite memories of my daughter is peeking into her room after hearing pages turn. She was crouched over the one patch of light as she perused a book. I have never known her to turn down "one more story" either.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, everyone. I'm off to put my daughter to bed.
I ALWAYS wish we were neighbors.
I know my nieces want me to read to them more often, but we really can't spend ALL day reading, SOME of that time has to be spent playing - right? (Besides, I do occasionally like reading books they're probably not ready for.)
"This is how I feel all the time. All I ever want to talk to other parents about (well, not all, but 99% of the time) is children's lit, and mostly I get met with ennui."
My parents read our books themselves when we were growing up. I credit this as the reason I read so fast - self defense! You put your book down to go pee, you came back and it was gone and your mother insisted she'd had it all along!
They enjoyed our books as much as they enjoyed our own, and as soon as we were reading chapter books on our own they figured we could handle just about any kind of material we chose.
They had friends who didn't get it though, who thought they read our books only to humor us and be Good Parents. Such a divide in understanding...!
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