How Literature Influenced My Daughter
“More more more” my daughter screeched as a closed Nancy Drew: The Twisted Candle. I shook my head and tucked her in,
“We will read the next chapter tomorrow sweetheart. Right now it is time for bed.”
A few whines escaped Val's mouth and a sympathetic pout formed on her face. My oldest is an avid-reader. believe it or not, her tastes leaning towards books with a strong female lead. While I read the more advanced chapter books to her, Val has started reading age-appropriate books, like Hot Dog. We see every book as a new adventure that we can explore and learn from which is a fun bonding experience for the both of us. We even have started making up our own stories that we take turns telling each other. While it seems that screens are overshadowing a good ole fashioned paper book my daughter's inspiration stems from her paper bound heroes.
How does literature influence my daughter? Good question! When you were a kid did you ever play pretend after reading a book? I remember pretending to be Nancy Drew, my personal hero! I am proud to say that Val is the exact same way! She loves Nancy Drew and pretends to solve mysteries with her American Girl dolls. Just yesterday she solved the mystery of the missing puzzle pieces, her Aladdin puzzle couldn't be completed without the last few pieces from under the couch.
She is also an A-class natural born leader! She may have been born with this natural leadership but I do believe that listening to great heroines triumphantly thwart evil doers has made a major impact on her psyche. Val tends to try and mimic how the heroines act which usually means that she is a bit over the top but it seems to work for her since she is able to make friends with anybody, regardless of age. She will come up to anyone and somehow wrap them up in her game of tag, like when we were stuck after church and she convinced high school girls to play with her!
Our bedtime stories have helped education wise, my daughter's vocabulary is quite extensive compared to some of her friends who do not get read to. While her word count may be up, her most impressive book related feat has been her reading, she is able to read not only sight words but larger words like “dragon” or “impressive”. Every day her word list grows and will continue to grow with the help of our wonderful book collection.
How can you involve your child in literature?
At first your child may not seem interested in being read to, and that is okay! Just keep reading, even if it seems like your children are not listening most likely they are. The best way to get their attention is to read a book related to their interest. If your child loves the zoo, then read a book about zoo animals. If your child loves dinosaurs, then read a book about dinosaurs.
What else can I do?
The world offers so many resources, here are a few!
Check out your local library
Check out your local library! Libraries are the palace of books!
Let your child wander the kids section, let them choose their books
Most libraries offer age-appropriate story time circles that are free to attend
A lot of libraries are jumping on the craze of Paws For Reading where kids read books with special trained pups. My special needs baby loves attending this program.
Check out your local thrift store!
My kids pick out a stack of books and I only pay $2 max for them! Nutriment for their minds while encouraging independent choice while not breaking your wallet!
Rather go the book store route?
My local bookstores feature monthly book readings in the kid's section with a corresponding craft. Always free. If you decide to purchase the book then see if they have a savings card or coupon, I know how expensive fresh new books can be.
Tablet time
E-books are the big craze and children's books have hopped onto it. You can go the traditional e-book or you can download the app. Certain books are read from an app that has little activities in-between pages. This is a great if your child wants a little screen time but you don't want them checking out the dark side of YouTube (seriously stay away from most Peppa Pig videos, they can be gruesome) Some suggestions?
Goodnight Moon. My oldest loves Goodnight Moon on her Kindle, it has a version where you trace letters of the alphabet as you read.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Sandra Boynton Collection
TV
A parent's best friend when you need to have five minutes of alone time in the loo or needing to fix lunch. Television is for watching and relaxing though, so how can a child possibly enhance their reading skills? Well there are several programs that are reading related. My children's favorites are
Super Why- This PBS show takes place in story books where the Super Readers need to read and fix the issues inside a book, the issue usually is related to the problem the Super Readers have before gearing up into superheros.
Reading Rainbow-Classic! Reading Rainbow introduces young readers to an array of books and reads a select few to the audience.
Wishbone- Throwback from the 90's but will still capture the hearts of any dog lover. Wishbone is a dog who loves to read books and he reenacts classic story tales, i.e. Robin Hood.
Wallykazam!- This cute little Nick Jr show has mythical creatures solve problems with the help of Wally's word wand. We don't get Nick Jr on our tv so Val has only seen it at friend's houses but it was quite educational.
Wordworld- A world where words come alive, Wordworld! Everything in Wordworld is made of words. In order for something to be made the characters have to put letters together to make what they need.
So now you have a few outside the home resources but maybe while staring at the shelves full of books you don't know what books to introduce your little ones? No problem, I've got you. Bellow are some *affiliated links* of the house's favorite books. I highly recommend checking these titles out on your Amazon account ( would greatly appreciate you using my links if you do, just click on the pictures. Momma would love a cup of premium coffee) or simply check them out at your local library for FREE!
Books for Baby
Diaper bag sized board books perfect for itty bitty readers (and easy reading for tired mommies and daddies)
Baby Signs: A Baby-Sized Introduction To Speaking with Sign Language
Llama Llama's Little Library
Guess How Much I Love You
Books for Beginners
Disney Princess Reading Adventures Disney Princess Level 1 Boxed Set- This is a set of easy readers for the Disney Princess fan. Comes with stickers and a certificate, great incentives to read all the books.
Pete the Cat Phonics Box- I love book sets since you get multiple books for pretty reasonable price. This set offers words different from your typical sight words, you'll find words like oranges or happy. My daughter likes these because it isn't simple. Not your kids speed? Don't worry they are still fun to be read to and your kids will pick up on these words before you know it.
Hot Dog- A favorite of mine that has been passed down to my kids. Any dog lover will love this hilarious short story about a dog that wants to escape the hot sun.
Books for Reading to Your Children
Nancy Drew Collection-Total girl power, solving mysteries, and intriguing adventures! Nancy Drew is our fictitious role model. Start off with the classic four to really hook your kids, or if you want simple they do have a book series for younger kids (link here).
Nate the Great- Have a boy who doesn't dig a female detective from the 1930's? Well Nate is a kid detective with kid friendly words and illustrations.
A Wrinkle In Time- With a movie coming to theaters why not read the book that the movie is being adapted from. I won't spoil it for you but please delve yourself in this enchanting adventure, you'll thank me later!
What kind of books do your children read? I'm always open for book suggestions! Happy reading!!!
