Reading Rainbow

Butterfly in the sky

I can go twice as high

Take a look

It's in a book

A Reading Rainbow

One of the things I love doing with Eli is reading.  We don't always get around to it in our days, and sometimes he's less than excited, but I'm absolutely set on instilling a love of books in this kid.  I've been flabergasted recently at the sheer number of people I've come in contact with who either can't read at all or have a rudimentary grasp on reading.  I asked Steve awhile ago how it was possible that people we know seem stuck at middle or early high school reading levels.  That's something my brain simply couldn't grasp.  He told me to take a look at my background versus theirs.  What he was pointing out to me was that I had parents who made quality time and reading staples in my early childhood.  As early as I can remember my parents read to  me, and I had oodles and oodles of my own books, on my own bookcase.  I remember sitting on the floor sifting through the stacks to find my favorites.  My parents are a huge part of the reason I've always excelled at reading and why I have an immense love for literature.  When I compared that to people who had parents where reading wasn't important, or perhaps parents who couldn't read that well themselves, it's no wonder reading and books aren't a joy for some.  

Well, Little Eli, you don't have a choice (if I can help it).  We'll be reading to you as often as you can stand it, and probably after that as well.  We're starting out small, you know, with kiddie books.  But mark my words, before the year is out he'll have read some Lewis, Rowling, Austen, and Tolkien too.  Here's to being passionate about learning, reading, and books in general.