I have very fond memories of reading as a child.  My mother used to read to us all the time.  We would get into the American Girl Series and Little Woman.  I remember the dialect when a character was speaking or when she would mimic what the book was describing.   Some of my favorite books to read to my children are ones that my mother read to me.  Even when there wasn’t a book present, my mother came up with the best stories.  I still remember the series that she made up called “I want it.”  Her love for reading definitely showed and it is one reason why I love to read today.

When my son was born the first things we bought for him were a few classic books.  He has over 200 books to date and he loves to “read” them.  He will no doubt pick up a book over any other toy.  It isn’t just the picture books he loves;  he will pick up one of my chapter books and flip through the pages.  When he started to learn to talk he would pick out any book that had a dog on it, which was one of his first words.  He could pick out a dog, even when my husband and I couldn’t.  This love of books is something that I hope to encourage.

We read together many of my childhood favorite books and enjoy the closeness we share  spending together.  Just like my mother did when we were little, I plan to continue to read and promote my children’s imagination through books.

Ashley