A Good Read

Every since she was little, Kayla has had a voracious appetite for books - both figuratively and literally. Her obsession started with the cloth books we got her. She loved flipping through them and most of all, putting bits of them into her mouth. She loved her cloth books so much that Grandma even made a couple for her. Some of them are pretty chewed up, but I'd say most of them are still in surprisingly great shape.

Then she developed a taste for tiny hardboard books that were perfect for her tiny hands and she's never looked back since. Her bookcase is filled and to keep up with her, I started taking her to library every Thursday (which also happens to be storytime-for-tots day). We'd lug about 10 books, most of which are titles she picks. Among her favorites are Dr Seuss books (The Tooth Book, The Foot Book, There's a Wocket in My Pocket, Hop on Pop, In a People House, Marvin K Mooney Will you Please go Now, Hooper Humperdink...Not Him, Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, Wacky Wednesday and the list goes on), any book that has Thomas the Train in it, books about The Berenstain Bears, books by Eileen Spinelli, and anything and everything that talks about fairies, princesses, birthdays, surprises, schools and babies. Add trucks, cars and wheels to that list as well.

We found out accidentally when she was about 13 months that she was remembering bits and pieces of the sentences in the book. We'd leave out a word or two and she'd fill it in. That was when I began to be more conscious about pointing out words to her while I was reading to her. Not a day goes by without Kayla rummaging through her books, demanding we read this or that to her. And in the past three to four months, we've noticed that her interest in words has grown and she recognizes more words than I ever imagined she could.

These days when we head to the library, I try to pick out one or two early reader books that she can read on her own, in part to build her confidence and also to get a little breather. Here's one that we got from the library last week. And guess what? It's about WHEELS! :) You'll notice that she also imagining herself as characters in the book. Every girl in every book is "Kayla".

Next on my to-do-list: Keep track of all the books she's devoured in her soon-to-be-three years on planet earth. :)