My kids aren’t the kind of kids that always have their nose buried in a book. I have to remind them to read on a daily basis. Sometimes they protest. Sometimes they stomp their feet. However, every time they read, they end up enjoying themselves. Once they get started, they’re all in. “You like to read,” I tell them. “You just have to make time for reading.”
I’m constantly giving the girls new series to read. Trying to find the right books, to get them hooked. I talk about books kids at school love. I leave books lying around. I know this is the key to growing readers.
Since my husband has been working from home, we have found a new routine. He brings the girls to school now, so they have extra time at home in the morning. This has become a perfect time to read. Adi has been working her way through the Mercy Watson series, after we read one together recently. Wren just finished The One and Only Ivan and is now onto The One and Only Bob. These characters feel like a part of our family right now, the same way the characters in the books I read always feel like friends. “Go get Mercy,” I say to Adi. Or, “Where’s Ivan?” I’ll ask Wren.
The characters are so familiar that Rose, our youngest, is now a fan. “Mom, I read three chapters of Mercy today,” she will tell me out of the blue. Or, “I’m just going to read another chapter, Mom.” She’ll then curl up on the couch and “read” a chapter or two.
Friday night, we cuddled up on the couch for movie night, ready to watch The One and Only Ivan. The characters Wren has been talking about for weeks now came to life for the whole family.
This morning, I woke up to Adi and Rose discussing their favorite characters. “I loved Bob and Ruby,” Rose declared.
“I liked Bob and Ruby…and Stella…and Ivan.” Adi chimed in.
Rose is now carrying around Wren’s copy of The One and Only Bob and I’m in love with these characters who feel like family.
Where There Is Joy 
Characters like family, indeed. It took my youngest – Eric – a while to become a reader, but I persisted and, sure enough, he has book friends now, too. I love that your girls are finding their way. Books really are amazing friends.
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I love this! Perseverance is definitely worth it where books are involved. I feel like my kids have so many options of things to do that reading gets buried—but I keep pulling it to the surface. We recently started listening to the Ramona series in the car and my kids are falling in love with audio books.
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Love this. We’re hardly in the car these days, but maybe I can find a way to try this too!
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Characters that are family! This makes me think back to when Olivia was Megan’s bestie! There’s nothing like hearing your kids talk, unprompted, about books and characters!!
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I do miss the read aloud days. It’s so strange that I will read something now and appropriate I pass it on to the kids. That’s our new way of sharing characters!
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I love this slice. I can hear the conversation around the house. You are creating the conditions for readers to grow and love and live a life filled with reading. What fun to hear your kids talking like this! Enjoy!
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What a beautiful image …characters becoming members of our family. So much in this idea – my mind and my heart are soaring! Thank you for sharing and inspiring.
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You are so wise to feed your girls books and to make a schedule. They do love it, but they need a guide to get them there. Lucky kiddos!
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I love how you invite the characters in to your family. Rose is going to love the characters even more when she actually reads them.
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How we bring our own children to not just read but discover the magic and miracles of books and reading will vary because our kids vary. The way that you’ve helped your girls find what’s theirs underscores the importance of choice in the process. Now that my youngest is a teen, the characters he references are from popular comedy series or anime. He also reads books but I am learning to converse with him and treat his video games, shows, YouTube commentators as text. Rick and Morty are not yet family members but they might be neighbors. 😉
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Neighbors! Love this!
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I have always believed that connection with the character is a true sign of a great book. What a fun slice – and book slices always make my reading heart smile!
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This idea of meeting and getting to know more people like they are actually real people is perhaps one of the best things about reading I think. It is a chance to expand your circle and to learn about all of the kinds of people that there are in the world. Perhaps that is why reading is so tied to the development of empathy. I know that is what you are helping to grow in your girls. What nutritious soil.
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What a great feeling it is when your child discovers a love of reading, right? It’s like “success!” My niece is also Wren (We call her wrennie). Love the name!
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We call our Wren, Wrennie sometimes too. ❤️
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Awww!
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How great that they treat them like real people and enjoy interacting with them. I’m sure they’ll continue to love reading, girls usually do more so than boys!
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Mercy Watson is the greatest, although you’re probably going to go through a lot of butter and toast.
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Love this, Jess!
My kids have dressed as Elephant and Piggy, Sammy the Spider, Little Elliott, and the Pigeon through the years. Those are the best kinds of costumes to do, aren’t they?
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The best!
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