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Get 'em reading young

By ERIKA BUTLER

Posted 9/03/10

Congratulations to Bainbridge Elementary School, which, according to Beverly Southall’s column, won Cecil County Public Library’s Summer Reading Trophy.

It was the first time Bainbridge Elementary has won the award, which is given to the school in the county with the highest participation rate.

Almost 40 percent of Bainbridge’s student body participated in the summer reading program. Those students and the entire school were to be honored Wednesday morning for their participation.

Congratulations to all the students at Bainbridge who participated.

We were part of the Harford County Public Library Summer Reading Program this year.

Our son, Henry, is only 18 months, but he can still be part of it. He just had to sit and listen to 25 books, which he was more than happy to do.

Technically speaking, we read a whole lot more than 25 books, if you count the number of times were read the same books over and over and over and over again.

One of his favorites is a touch and feel snowman book. It doesn’t matter that it’s been 90-plus degrees most of the summer, he wants to read about the snowman.

He also likes “Where is my Baby?” and one of the Thomas the Train interactive books.

It’s obvious he pays attention and he’s learning from reading. He can make the sounds of all the animals in the “Where is my Baby?” book and is beginning to pick up when to push which button to make the sounds for Thomas.

More and more he’s starting to enjoy the Dr. Seuss books, one of my favorites that I started buying years ago for when I had kids. I’m guessing he can hear the rhythm to the words and likes how it sounds. They’re fun for me to read to him, though my tongue has gotten tied more than once.

He’s also starting to read to himself. He’ll sit on the floor by his basket of books, pull one out and start blabbing away. Who knows what he’s saying to himself, or what he thinks he’s reading, the point is, he’s enjoying books.

I love that at this young age, he loves his books. Every morning, he brings me a book or two to read while I’m getting ready for work. We read a few more at night before he goes to bed, and we always finish with the same one — “The Going to Bed Book.” His father and I can recite it from memory, but we still open it up and turn the pages every night at bedtime.

The local libraries are wonderful for encouraging that love and getting children interested in reading. They have wonderful programs, like Drop-In Storytime at 10:30 Friday mornings at the Abingdon branch (which we go to as often as possible) for young children, to adult reading groups.

I hope that as Henry grows up, his love of books continues. I know as parents, Chris and I will do everything we can to fuel that desire to read and learn. What he can learn from reading is endless, according to Dr. Seuss, who says, in “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut:” “The more that you read the more things you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”