12:37 a.m. - 2002-09-17
Scheherazade - 1001 Nights
I read out loud to my sons tonight. These days they indulge me since, as young adults, they are quite capable of reading on their own. It is an evening ritual I started when my first child was born. I have tried to read out loud to the boys every night since. It relaxes me more than just about anything else. Yoga and meditation feel like extensions of this practice.
In the movie "Three Men and a Baby" the character played by Tom Selleck starts reading a passage from a book that descibes a fight scene in a boxing match to the baby girl left on their doorstep. His roomate objects to the choice of subject matter. Selleck's character responds that it doesn't matter what you read, its the tone of your voice that matters. He was trying to lull the baby to sleep.
In addition, reading together provides shared experiences, it creates quiet family time, and it gives a child a significant head start in literacy. If you are astute enough in your choices, you can also slip in most of the morals and ethics you feel are important to pass on in an enjoyable format that explains the whys as well as the whats.
Studies indicate that girls seem to develop linguistically sooner and in more depth than boys but I think that has a lot to do with how our culture interacts with its children. With boys it seems to find physical interaction more acceptable while with girls there is more socialization. Reading aloud to my sons leveled the playing field for them.
Over time we developed a rhythm to our evenings that was a peaceful way to move into sleep together. The boys had favorites that we read over and over; each bringing their own special find into the reading cycle as they made their own discovery of the joy of literature.
When each child reached 2 and a half I began the story of the Hobbit with them. When that was finished we moved into the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien's books have such a richness in the language along with the detail and action that even the little ones would listen for twenty to forty pages at a sitting. I think I've read this whole body of work at least once a year.
The next series that came into favor - and the one I was reading tonight - was "The Dark is Rising" by Susan Cooper. It is a modern take on the Arthurian legends told in five books through the eyes of five children with the guidance of the legendary Merlin. It is the ultimate of the "good" against "evil" genre.
Next to be included in our book club were Lloyd Alexander's Tales of Prydain (4 volumes) which includes the Black Cauldron. It is an adaptation of the Celtic myths contained in the ancient Mabinogian - the spiritual text of the ancient Welsh, Irish, and Scots. The Wizard of Earthsea compendium by Ursula LeGuin followed in the discoveries. Its subject matter is a little darker as the characters battle their own weaknesses. It has a Norse flavor to it. The next treasure was C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series. Adventures that captured many childrens' imagination as it reflect themes common in childs play.
Last to arrive on the scene has been the Harry Potter series. I resisted this series for a long time because of the hype, but they are great books and they return to the theme of good against evil and the need for each person to make choices that are for the good of the whole instead of for personal benefit. I like the character development in this series so far because the reader learns how to meet a challenge as the children in the story see and take responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
Not only that, it is the one time I'm certain that when I talk my sons listen.
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