I LOVE THESE LINES...

“You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be—

I had a mother who read to me.”

(Strickland W. Gillilan, The Reading Mother.

FAVORITE STORY BOOKS    

I loved reading to my children when they were young. We read serial stories every night after supper. I'd find a great book and we'd read a chapter or two a night. No, that's not correct. They would always cry for more and so we usually read many chapters. One of our greatest favorites was "Children on the Oregon Trail" by Anna Rutgers van der Loeff--a most heart rendering story and I cried along with the children.

However, when they were smaller, one of our favorite authors was Bill Peet. He wrote the most amazing children's stories, most of them in rhyme. I never tire of reading stories in rhyme. Bill Peet's books are incredibly illustrated, the stories are exciting and imaginative, and the language interesting. Our children still love to say, "Doggon and dagnabit, That's what I call a whopping big rabbit!" (From "Huge Harold.")

Some of our favorite titles are: HUGE HAROLD, KERMIT THE HERMIT, FAREWELL TO SHADY GROVE, RANDY'S DANDY LIONS, and BUFORD THE LITTLE BIGHORN. Google Bill Peet for a complete list. I really recommend these wonderful stories for your children. They were definitely our favorites.

And yes, another favorite was "Tikki Tikki Tembo" by Arlene Mosel about a little Chinese boy who nearly died because his name was so long. His full name is "Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo." The name is fun to say and our adult children have never forgotten the name and can still recite it today. You'll love this one, too.

Have fun reading stories to your children today. Whenever my little ones would start bouncing off the walls, I would haul them all in for story time! There's nothing like gathering your children close in around you and on your knees and reading to them. it calms them down, and you'll most probably need to do it more than once a day!

Love from Nancy