The Tiger's Bookshelf: The First Bedtime Stories
There’s nothing more exciting than meeting a new small person who has embarked on the adventure of exploring the world–and that was the gift I was given when my buddies from Brooklyn came to town with their ten-month-old son. It was sheer, unadulterated joy to see Charlie enchant an entire coffeehouse without making a sound, simply through the radiance of his smile and the bouncing enthusiasm of his little body. He knows that everyone he sees will soon be his friend, and the delight that he finds in everything around him makes him irresistible.
Charlie’s father is a writer, and Charlie’s mother and I love many of the same books, so of course I wanted to know what have they read to Charlie? And of course, their answer was a story.
It was the end of the day and Charlie and his mother were snuggled together, when she realized that this was the perfect evening for their first bedtime story. She found Goodnight Moon, arranged the pillows on her bed to the proper level of support and comfort, placed the book so that Charlie would be able to appreciate the pictures while she read–and then Charlie’s father entered the room.
” Are you going to read Charlie his first bedtime story?” he asked, and then said, “No–wait.” He went off to his bookshelves and came back with the perfect words for his son’s introduction to the ritual of bedtime reading. That night Charlie’s parents prepared him for sleep by reading him The Odyssey.
As a parent who read Out of Africa, The Wasteland, and A Child’s Christmas in Wales aloud to my infant sons, I understood and loved this story. When we introduce our babies to words read aloud, we want those words to resonate, to imprint our children with the majesty of literature–then from there we turn to more conventional choices that are filled with color and delight and pleasure.
It’s no wonder that people not only love books, they are deeply attached to them. For many of us, being read to is one of our first memories, and our love for language on a page is intertwined with our memories of being warm, being snuggled, being secure, and being loved.
What was the first book you read aloud to your child?
August 13th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I don’t have children, Janet, but I do have a story. A close friend of mine was a bit embarrassed when she was surprised by a neighbor while reading an Anne River Siddons (adult) novel aloud to her infant daughter. The neighbor was baffled, but I thought it was an excellent example of someone who enjoyed books passing along the appreciation. And now, 13 years later, my friend’s daughter is a voracious reader, and mother and daughter continue to share novels. I enjoyed your friends’ story, too. Thanks!
August 13th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
That is a splendid story–I hope Anne River Siddons hears it someday! Thank you, Jen, for adding to the conversation–it makes this a way of chatting with a friend!
August 14th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Both these stories are gorgeous. I love the symbolism of The Odyssey as the launch into the world of books! I can’t remember what that first significant book was for my own children – but I do remember taking Hairy Maclary along with me when I met my tiny god-daughter for the first time.
I grew up listening to Beatrix Potter and Alison Uttley’s Little Grey Rabbit books; and I can remember, when I was 7 or 8, squeezing with my brother onto my mum’s lap, almost tipping up her rocking chair, to listen to The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer. That set the path for my own reading and was an example to me of what you can read to your children. My brother would never have picked up a Georgette Heyer to read for himself but he really enjoyed listening to it!
August 14th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Hairy MacLary??? What a great title–I have to look for that. I just bought two Beatrix Potters as a pre-baby present for a coworker–The Two Bad Mice and The Roly Poly Pudding–both pure delightful barely controlled anarchism cloaked in sweet pictures–I do love B.P.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Hairy Maclary is a scruffy wee dog who is the hero of lots of wonderful, very funny picture books – they are all written in onomatopoeic verse by New Zealand author/ illustrator Lynley Dodd and are perfect interactive readalouds for little ones! Hairy Maclary even has his own website!
August 14th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I found him on GoogleBooks and fell madly in love with the preview rhymes and pictures. Hairy’s available in the U.S. from Tricycle Press, so we Yanks can read the books too!
August 17th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
[...] story, I feel it is time I put the spotlight on a book for that early age-group. In her last post on the Tiger’s Bookshelf, Janet asked about first bedtime stories and there are a couple of [...]
August 17th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I love the Talisman Ring story, Marjorie. That is a bit similar to my friend’s story, except that the kids actually had say in the selection. What a riot!
August 21st, 2008 at 4:24 am
Well, I have to say that I do sometimes say to my two that we’re going to read a certain book now, without offering them much of a choice – but I do try and sell it to them and I haven’t made any major mistakes so far… Unlike for their independant reading where this summer I thought Older Brother might like to start on The Edge Chronicles. He found it too scary and was quite cross with me, though I did point out to him that he didn’t have to finish a book, if he wasn’t enjoying it!