Bookworms

Jack has always been a book lover. I started reading to him when he was five months old. His first favorite book was God Loves You Very Much, given to him by Mimi. We would read, read, and read this book again. I think the big, bright and colorful pictures were the main draw, because although the message God Loves You is certainly wonderful, the overall story was a bit weak. We moved on to better literature and quickly fell in love with Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? This is an excellent introductory book and one that I now give as a baby gift to first time parents. The pictures are bright and colorful and the text is predictably repetitive with a nice melodious flow.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Jack. Here is 10 month old baby Jack "reading" The Wheels on the Bus. I love that the book is upside down! We've continued to read to Jack, his love for books has continued to grow, and now it is so exciting to see him learning to read for himself!

So when Will was an infant, I started the same reading routine with him; only at 5 months old, he was not the least bit interested in hearing a book read, but he did enjoy turning the pages at lightening quick speed. I was beginning to think that he wasn't going to love books. This went on until he was about a year old and he fell in love with Brown Bear, Goodnight Moon, and My World (the companion book to Goodnight Moon). He loved, loved, loved these books and we must have read them for the next entire year. But that was okay because I was ecstatic that Will was showing an interest in books

This past fall, we pulled out one of Jack's former books No, David! and it became an instant hit. Will even took the book to school one Friday for Show & Tell.
It is such a cute book about a mischievous little boy who happens to get himself into all kinds of trouble. So perfect for a 2 year old! The text is very simplistic (mostly just No, David!) but the pictures are bright, colorful, and engaging. And for Christmas, Santa brought the companion book David Gets in Trouble
where we find trouble is still David's middle name. We have read these David books over & over & over. It has gotten to the point where Jack and I want to bang our heads against the wall whenever he chooses either of these to read at bedtime. However, the last couple of nights Will has decided to "read" to us. He climbs into bed, puts No, David! on his lap, opens up the book and starts reading as he points to each word. He has the whole book memorized so he doesn't necessarily point to the right word as he is reading, but it is so cute nonetheless! He is so proud of himself that he is "reading" like big brother Jack. And No, David! has become fresh again hearing it read in the sweet little voice of my favorite 3 year old!

Ahhh...so rewarding to see two boys falling in love with books.