Many years ago I saw a young child read to his barely a year old baby brother. It was a tiny book of short simple sentences that weaved a beautiful little story. Every page was adorned with super cute illustrations. I was surprised, taken aback! What in the world would that baby know about written sentences or words or even alphabets? But there sat in awe and silence, the ever so hyperactive baby immersed in the book in front of him. Everyone in that house were voracious readers and full of knowledge and exposure to different cultures.
Later on, I discovered that it was a popular practice in many different parts of the world to read to little minds and that there were innumerable wonderful books available in the market for babies and toddlers. It was during that time that I promised myself to try reading to my baby whenever I would have one.
And what an amazing time I am having now doing the same! More so because of the variety of books that the market offers, from handmade and made of fabric to hard bound ones, from fictional works to educational works, most of them engaging kids with interesting features like illustrations, audios, stickers, pull outs, posters and so many other activities, the list is endless.
Honestly, I do not know if all these varieties have always been there for babies and toddlers since decades or are just sprouting around from all corners of the world including our own India! Whatever be the case, me and my bub are having a gala time exploring the pleasurable plethora of colourful and fun books!
Here are some of the perks of reading to my child-
1. Firstly it makes him calm down and sit at one place!
Most babies and toddlers are inherently very active and while being with them on your own, all day and night along on a daily basis, all that energy takes a toll on us. In today's world, our saviours are You tube and games, but we all feel guilty resorting to these for longer durations. Reading comes to our rescue there! It offers a healthier, less addictive, less hypnotizing alternative.
2. Slowly they begin to value books and see them as opportunities to explore, learn, enjoy and get engaged. Wherever they notice books lying around, invariably they will pick it up and flip through its pages and something or the other magically catches their attention! For instance my son goes through home decor books at the store and finds furnitures similar to ours or his favourite superhero on a kids' comforter, he goes through automobile books at the showroom and finds dinosaurs! Yes! They were there, built by some creative soul from automobile scraps! It offers us some sane and less embarrassing moments in boring adult set ups.😅
3. It improves their vocabulary, observation skills, kindles their imagination and provides them with an early insight into different languages and cultures. My son knows what the English eat for breakfast and insists I make them at home for him 🙄 He knows that a gardener is called thottakaran in Malayalam. He knows that children in Europe go to sleep much earlier than him.
4. They engage children in a variety of activities, a Peppa pig book comes with wheels so it doubles up as a car for the little one. Pen control books allow our tinies to develop their writing and tracing skills and prepare them for today's highly and sometimes unnecessarily competitive preschools. Busy books improve tiny life skills like using a zipper, clipping things, tying laces. Stickers, colours and glitter are real fun though you should expect to see them practically anywhere in your house, but hey they sure transform your perfectly designed and decorated house into a lively, breathing home where memories for a lifetime get created.😊
5. Children's book authors have the amazing ability to simplify big concepts and deep wisdom into small capsules that deeply internalizes into their systems. A very interesting book that has found its way into our home teaches little children the concept of time and makes them learn to read time through a wonderful story! Yes my child cannot read time even now, nor has he really learnt the concept 100%. But the process surely has initialized, he loves the book and its characters, he enjoys turning the hands of the little model of clock that is neatly fitted into the book. Another promising book that I am laying my eyes on now, is a story about what happens to Humpty Dumpty after the fall. It replaces the idea of the original rhyme that all isbroken if you fall with a more inspiring and positive story afterwards. It instils the hope in them that there are ways to heal and rise to your truest potentials after every fall through a heart touching story.
6. It is a great way to bond with your child. My son knows that the way I read, translate, explain and narrate a story to him is much much different to how his father does it for him. He climbs on to both of our laps in turns and asks us to read the same book over and over again. Perhaps each time he discovers different things but definitely every time he successfully catches both his parents' attention!😈
7. Last but not at all the least, you get to enjoy and learn too! I had no idea that earthworm was called mannira or that caterpillar was called shalabhapuzhu in Malayalam. We are absolutely enjoying the imagination that has gone into all of these cute books. You should see the super cute illustrations in a book that we own where farm animals wake up in the middle of the night and think that the sun must have fallen into a well! In another one your toddler can also take part in reading. It does so by inserting little pictures in the place of certain simple words, like it has a picture of a tree where the word tree ought to be. Man! I love these books!
My son is gratefully blessed with a father who encourages reading and buys books for him with no squirms, he has aunts and uncles who keep gifting him amazing books and of course he has a mother who is more excited than him to read his books over and over again😬
I am happy and immensely grateful that my toddler knows that there is a whole different world full of interesting stories, activities, fun and knowledge beyond TV, phones, tablets, video games and movies. Not that these are downright evil but they are not the only cool options for entertainment. 😉
No comments:
Post a Comment