Under the header of “I am not making
this up,” I recently observed a young child try to swipe the cover of a paper
picture book like an iPad in order to view the pages.
I do believe that digital books read
on a screen can be an alternative to paper books for school-aged kids, as long
as there is a balance between this medium and paper books.
However, I am an ardent believer in
paper books – and paper books only – for children under the age of five.
And here’s why…
A feast for the senses. Young children are by nature sensory seekers. Give them
the opportunity to smell the paper and feel the pages of the book. Teach them
how to handle paper books, and turn their pages. Help them learn which way to
hold the book so that it is “right-side-up” and ready to read.
Let them identify the books they love
and want to read by how they look. The books are different sizes and shapes,
and these unique features provide the clues your young child needs to recognize
each title and identify his or her favorites.
Young children may even taste their
favorite board books, as mouthing babies and toddlers often do. I have saved my
treasured copy of Good Night, Moon
with little-boy teeth marks on the binding to read to my unborn grandchildren
some day.
Sharing traditions. If you are as
lucky as I am, your parents held you in their laps and read paper books to you
before bedtime. The intimacy and the importance of that routine have a profound
impact upon the love affair between you and your young child.
And it
doesn’t hurt that this lovely experience often occurs when your child is
freshly bathed and a little bit drowsy. It is the perfect opportunity for you
to punctuate your read-aloud with kisses on your child’s sweet shampooed head.
There was
something sacred and special about the continuation of the book reading my
father and I enjoyed with my own children. And I am certain they will continue
this family tradition with their own babies.
Favorite “toys.” Young children
often prefer a stack of their favorite picture books to other kinds of playthings.
Put a cardboard or plastic box lined with a soft blanket by your picture book
shelf, and let your child climb in with a book and read. He or she may make up a
new story, or simply point to favorite objects or characters on each page. Perhaps
he or she will serenade you with one of my stories as they turn the pages.
Paper books
can be wonderful transition objects to help your child willingly climb into her
or her car seat, or visit a new friend or destination with a book in hand.
Our goal is
to instill in young children a love for books and reading. Let’s take the
screen out of the experience for our youngest readers. And in the process, we
will enhance the emotional AND intellectual impact of shared reading for our
little ones.
I will sign
off now so that I can finish my paperback novel before I fall asleep…
Your “Old
School Annie,”
Anne
