• A Good Book

  Filed under A Dude's Guide to Kids
  Sep 16

  by Richard

  Good children’s literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child. — Anonymous

  I love reading to my kids. It’s one of the highlights of my day. Just sitting down with one, two or three of them and reading from a great book, for certain values of great. For a little while there, I was still reading to Sarcasmo and Zippy the Monkey Boy when they were still 13 and 12.

  Reading to older kids was a lot of fun because we could pick out books with more mature themes than Billy the Goat goes to market and has to deal with some painful setbacks. I normally encouraged them to find books there were just slightly over their comprehension level on their own. That way, I could help them to understand what was going on and they could try to elevate their reading/listening comprehension while seeing a different view of the world around them.

  A library is a hospital for the mind. — Anonymous
  

  Not long after that, of course, they both became convinced they were too old to have their dad read to them at night. *sigh* I understand. They were growing up, but it still left me feeling a bit left down. Then, all I had left was Speed Racer, who was quite young at the time and really only liked silly books about Billy the Goat going to market, etc., etc.

  Now, though, Speed Racer has grown up, for certain values of grown up, and he’s starting to like those books that are just a little more complex. We just finished reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which I cannot recommend highly enough, especially if you have little dudes. I also think it’s a great book for little dudettes, but it really speaks to the guy in us all. I actually got the first book for Sarcasmo and Zippy the Monkey Boy when the book first came out and loved it so much I kept it with the intention of finally getting to read it to Speed Racer some day.

  Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. — Joseph Addison

  Speed Racer is a little different, though. He has his own ideas about what would constitute a good book. (quel surprise) We’re reading books by authors about whom I’ve never heard, such as Margaret Peterson Haddix. The book, Found, is pretty good so far, so maybe he’s got some good taste, except for in, you know, football.

  So that is my big recommendation for the day: No matter how young your little dude or dudette is, take some time to read to them every day. They’ll grow to love it and so will you.

  • Spread the word, dude!

  Tags: A Dude's Guide to Kids, Adult, Billy The Goat, books, children, Comprehension Level, dad, dude, Dudette, Dudettes, Eading, exercise, family, Good Book, growing up, Intention, Joseph Addison, kids, Kids Fun, Listening Comprehension, Literature, little dudes, Man, Mature Themes, Monkey Boy, Ood, Ow, reading, Reading Books, richard, sarcasm, Sarcasmo, Setbacks, Silly Books, Speed Racer, Zippy The Monkey
  
  Tagged as: Adult, Billy The Goat, books, children, Comprehension Level, dad, dude, Dudette, Dudettes, Eading, exercise, family, Good Book, growing up, Intention, Joseph Addison, kids, Kids Fun, Listening Comprehension, Literature, little dudes, Man, Mature Themes, Monkey Boy, Ood, Ow, reading, Reading Books, richard, sarcasm, Sarcasmo, Setbacks, Silly Books, Speed Racer, Zippy The Monkey
  
  1 Comment

One Response to “A Good Book”

1. Dude Preview: Percy Jackson & The Olympians -- The Ligntning Thief | A Dude's Guide said on November 28th, 2009 at 12:05 am

   [...] might remember, a while ago I was raving about how good the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is for young dudes and tweener dudes [...]