books

8.22.2014

here is the key to the house. in the house burns a light. in that light rests a bed. on that bed waits a book.

"boo[k]!" (the k is silent) he shouts upon seeing said book waiting on the the basket next to the bed. then, up onto tippy toes he reaches for it before walking over to me and repeating the word, only this time as a command. [translation: read!] so i sit down cross legged and he slowly backs up into my lap. the house in the night. we go through it a couple of times every day, each time telling a different story. it's a beautifully illustrated board book with so many details that you could go through it hundreds of time without telling the same story twice. sometimes it'll be all about the night sky: how the sun shines on the moons face (and what a pretty face she has, i seeee youuuu luna!) and about counting as many stars as we can - which usually leads to an interlude of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - before the next page turns. other times it'll be about the bird: how it soars through the dark, getting smaller the higher it flies and about it's song (that i then whistle and august squeeks in imitation).
the book was a gift for august - a souvenir from my trip to minnesota earlier in the summer. it was my nephew's favorite book and came highly recommended not only by claudin, but by the clerk at the bookstore who was proud to tell us that the author was a st. paul resident. i had no idea it'd be such a hit considering that at the time, most of the books in our house had been either chewed or torn beyond recognition. we're past that phase though and now books are for reading. i'm not sure where he got it from, but these days august loves to read. he'll flip through books to pass the time in the car or sometimes, when he's out of sight and i go through a brief moment of panic because it's so quite, i'll find him sitting in the dog's bed reading.

i was never a big reader as a child so i know he didn't get it from me. nope, the "reader" in our family was my older sister, the so-called "middle child" (she was the third in our five). she was the only one that really took to my father's passion for reading, just like claudin and i were the only ones to take after his love of running. come to think of it, we each seemed to pick one my dad's passions to share just with him. my brother: his dedication to service (from eagle scout, through the ranks to army ranger) and my oldest sister: his devotion to family (almost entirely inspired by Fiddler on the Roof, TRADITION!)

while i wasn't the [independent] reader my sister was, i did read a lot of great books when i was a kid - i just read them with my dad. he loved literature and it was something he held onto even when everything else in his life was fleeing from him. having children gave him the excuse to read all the stories he had always wanted to read. so when we were growing up and all the way to middle school, he would read to us before bed. some of my best memories come from those nights we stayed up late reading j.r.r. tolkein or c.s. lewis with claudin and i on either side of him, our heads resting on each of his shoulders as he read aloud.

i remember after one particular late night in which we had stayed up well past reasonable sleeping hours to read one more paragraph from the culminating chapters of The Hobbit. with just a few pages left, it took a tremendous amount of discipline from my father to close the book. but it was very late on a school night and he had a strong sense of responsibility. the next morning though, he woke us with the same excitement he was about to bestow: you don't have to go to school today, we're staying home to finish the book! we spent the early hours relishing the last bit of Bilbo's journey back to the Shire and i don't recall what we did the rest of the day (i think, maybe, we rented the cartoon on VHS?) but i'll never forget the time my dad let us play hookie. ever since then i decided that when i had i child i would do the same. with time and maturity i grew to appreciate books and now i've got the same enthusiasm that my father had for reading.  especially now that i have a child of my own - i get to read all the books i never read on my own: Huckleberry Finn, Moby Dick, Robinson Crusoe... august and i will discover all those books and more. and maybe i'll even let him miss school a few times too.

16 comments:

Ursula said...

Beautiful post Lucinda. My sister has that book and you're right, it's a good one. I love that story about your Dad letting you play hookie to finish the Hobbit. Some of my best memories involve reading with my Mom. She and I read my first non-picture book together "The Golden Compass" and I barely remember what it was about but I loved curling up with her on the couch and feeling like a big kid. Then on the weekends we'd head to the bookstore and I was allowed to buy one new book provided I had finished my last one. I remember buying Ella Enchanted and reading it 14 times. Such an addict. To this day, my ideal vacation involves relaxing with a good book. I like to think that's one habit I've learned from my Mom that I will one day pass on to my children.

andrea said...

oh how i love this, alll of it. mua luci.

Petra said...

beautiful. I wish I had these kind of memories from my childhood xo

Heather @ Run Like a G! said...

As a teacher, this post has me beaming! I love it when we introduce books to our children so young! They need it!!! And I love that you are showing him that reading is fun!!!!! :) Loved this post and I love that book :)

Erin said...

I think reading is the most beautiful thing you can share with someone. Parents, kids, friends, yourself. I got a little teary eyed at the idea of your dad letting you skip school to finish The Hobbit, it was such a special memory you shared. That is my kind of dad! Reading was huge in my family growing up, and my dad had books stacked four deep in some spots (he gave up on bookshelves after a while ;). My mom kept a bunch of my favorites from childhood so that I could one day share them with my own bébé, and I can't wait. xo

lucinda said...

xox and send me some recommendations - you're my go-to gal! ;)

lucinda said...

i know what you mean, i feel the same about other aspects of my childhood, but the cool thing is life gives all sorts of second chances and not just when you have your own children - it can happen in all sorts of ways ;)

lucinda said...

that warms my heart, heather, thanks! i realize now how important it is to not only telling children to do something, versus DOING it with them. they learn so much from observing and imitating so if they see us reading then they'll read. besides, they want to be cool like adults. and we're cool, right? ;)

Sarah McConnell said...

I love this, and I love the story about your dad. That's just too cool! I always loved reading so I am happy to see my son picking up the same love. I'm afraid he's getting too much into TV now, but when I turn it off and the books come out- those are some of my favorite times. I'm really looking forward to reading the chapter books to him, but the picture books like this are sweet, too. August is one lucky little boy. =)

Christine Dinsmore said...

oh, this was so beautiful. i didn't know my father and so when a child doesn't know their parent them spend a lot of time imaging who they might like for one - that sort of thing. well it's been a long time since i have played that game but as i was reading this my inner child was saying "that one!" (i loooove to read). your dad sounds so lovely and i am so happy you have all of those precious memories with him. and it's wonderful you are passing his love on with august by keeping up his tradition. just beautiful.

lucinda said...

thanks sarah! yeah, i fear there will come a time when the tv will capture his attention more - which is not so bad as you've pointed out, so long as the books still come out when it is off. ;)

lucinda said...

oh christine! your comment choked me up. he was a very special mand and laid the foundation from which i hope to build on to be the best parent to my son. thank you for your sweet words. xo

Hannah Smith | fox and willow said...

love this, so beautiful and my dad read those books to us as well! I was never a big reader as a kid, but love them now!

lucinda said...

the cronicles of narnia, the lord of the rings, harry potter... fantasy novels are the best wasy to get kids into ready. our dad's were wise men! ;)

Josi said...

hey lew, whew, it has been forever since i was on here, but, better late than never! so sweet! i read to lenia too and she LOVES books. i am looking forward to reading books to her as well. how old were you when your dad stopped reading to you? i guess one gets to that age where one gets "too cool" for that kind of stuff, but those are some great memories you have with your daddyo. miss you. i hope you, andy and august are well! xoxoxoxo

lucinda said...

josi, josi, josi! i think about you all the time!! there's a long email coming your way VERY soon, but to quickly answer your question: papi read to us until we were about 14. fourTEEN! i swear, we were never too cool for time with papi and thank goodness for it because you know i'd give anything for another minute with him. keep reading to lenia and do it as long as she'll stand it - it'll be one of her sweetest memories with you. xoxo

 

© current tempo All rights reserved . Design by Blog Milk Powered by Blogger