Elena the Reader

One of the great joys that I take in my oldest daughter is her love of reading. At 6 she is already reading voraciously. We went to the library Monday night and she got 7 books – childrens books they were – but still 7 books. When I went home for lunch on Tuesday she told me she had read them all! In the last year she has read Charlotte’s Web and two of the Narnia books - all on her own. We've been reading the Little House series as a family, and every time we read she sits right beside me, reading along to see when I make a mistake. I see in her a love of reading that I want to cultivate and engage. I want to see her reading widely and thinking critically. I want to talk engagement and interaction with her. I need to start by asking questions about what she is reading and the ideas that she is learning from them. Narnia is especially apt for this in as much as the allegory and images connect to familiar themes from her Sunday school. But the other general fiction is just as open for interrogation. I am learning to be a more critical reader. I am working on thinking through my reading and reacting to it in careful consideration. Some of that is finding its expression on the pages of this blog. I want my daughter to begin the same habits. But of course she is only 6.