On Mom Time: A Belated National Literacy Month Post

Here are the cliff notes: I’ve been booked. So, while I had the best intentions of doing a post for National Literacy Month (which was in September, *face palm*) the month came and went.

But after shelving this post for weeks, I thought well, better late than never. Moms will understand. So here it goes.

The statistics on why you should read to your child are staggering. Research shows that children that have five books read to them a day enter kindergarten having heard 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to. That’s a lot of words.

Even kids who are only read one book a day still hear 290,000 more words by age five than those who aren’t read to regularly. Interestingly, research also shows you should read the same books to your child over and over for reading comprehension. So yes, all of this reading is VERY HARD to do (you know, on top of the laundry and diaper changes and just keeping the baby alive). But I guess that’s a topic for another post (which will also likely be weeks late).

So while we’re busy trying to read five books a day to E and also making sure to put the same ones on repeat, we wanted to share some of our faves that have made the rotation. Because let’s face it, right now E is still more interested in eating the books than reading them… but one day!

·      Where’s Spot: The Spot series is one I still recollect reading as a kid. E loves dogs so this one is a no brainer. Plus he enjoys trying to tear off all the flaps.

·      It’s Time to Sleep My Love: Ok, if there was a Nobel Prize for infant literature I think this book should have one. It’s poetry. Beautifully written. This is one book I could read every single night and never have it get old.   

·      Clifford’s Bedtime: Back to E’s love of fur things, we like reading about the different things dogs do. This book is a good one. Clifford’s First Halloween that we just bought… not so much.

·      Guess How Much I Love You: This one may be on here because it was one of the first books I read to E and Todd just liked making fun of my repeating “Little Nut Brown Hare” and “Big Nut Brown Hare” over and over again. I agree, they could have been more creative with the names, but it’s still a sweet story.

·      Mama: As someone who is rooting hard for E’s first word to be “Mama” (or something of that nature) how can I not include this one? Sure there is no plot (which I hate). Or complete sentences (also hate). But any chance to reinforce this all-important word so I can beat “Dada” gets my vote.

What books are you reading to your little? Let us know in the comments below.

Happy reading!