All About the Books

While I was pregnant with John I was constantly reading about the importance of READING to, and with your kids. This was a bit obvious to me because... well... smart people read lots!

My sister and her husband are constantly reading with their, now almost 3 year old son and he is SUPER SMART! While we were visiting over Christmas I would ask him if he would like to come and read a story with John and I, and he would take on the reading role! He'd sit there with the book and make up the story to go with the pictures! Pretty good for a 2 year old!! He knows all of the letters and even knows who they belong to... Mom's letter is "M"!

So the point is... READ TO YOUR CHILDREN!

But here's the thing... it takes time right?

Well, at our pre-natal class we had a guest speaker come in about this. She literally sat down and asked someone to time while she read a children's story to us. It took a total of 2 minutes. She said that reading just 3 books a day to your child (and eventually with your child) will dramatically help with their intellectual development.

3 books... that's 6 minutes!

So, Joe and I have taken it upon ourselves to be ALL ABOUT THE BOOKS! We were reading to him even before he was born! And I have to say that he has loved it ever since! We read to him a few days after bringing him home from the hospital and he actually started complaining when I finished one book! So I read another!

Here are some of our favourites so far are:

Baby, Baby by Phil Cummings
This book is written by a man who was born in our town and went to the local area school as a child and was illustrated by a Canadian born man! It's a very simple yet effective book. I would say it's John's favourite! It's about a baby - what he can see, hear and touch. This is the last book that we read every night... we even kiss the baby goodnight in the end.

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
I think this one has become very popular with parents in recent years. It's about two Nutbrown Hares - a Big one and a Little one, and how much they love each other. This is also a great bedtime book. "I love you to the moon and back!"

The Very Itchy Bear by Nick Bland
We were given this book as a gift - there are other books about the same bear that go before this one, but I haven't read them. This one is about a bear and a flee... it's pretty funny... one of Daddy's favourites.

The Mystery of the Missing Bilbies by Simon McLean
We bought this one from a garage sale! It's got all the great Australian animals in it! It's funny and the illustrations are very creative. I think this one is my fave!

My Aussie Dad by Yvonne Morrison
I bought this book even before we were pregnant! It's really great! It's about all the different types of Aussie dads. It rhymes and the illustrations are awesome. But I don't really think that there's any point of hunting this book down unless your dad is an Aussie... there's also a "My Aussie Mum" which is equally as enjoyable if that's your situation!



P.S. I think my son is already a genius!

Happy reading!