Simply Brilliant

Reading as a Family

Some of the best memories I have with my family are of reading together. Reading a book together is not a set family activity for my family. It just kind of happens sometimes. I believe it started with the first Harry Potter book. I started reading it outloud and the family gathered around and were engrossed in a good story. They would always beg me to read another chapter and then another. I would finally have to shut the book and override their whining and complaining while they got ready for bed. We read all of the Harry Potter series together. Somewhere inbetween Potter books we also read the Abhorsen Trilogy. I think we got on that series because I was listening to one of the trilogy as a book on tape during my commute to the office. I was having so much fun with it that I played a little for some of my kids and my wife. They were hooked. We ended up listening to the second in the series together as a family and then we read the third in the series. Two of my sons actually went back and read the first. We also read the Golden Compass trilogy together--all but the last chapter. We got kind of tired of the third book and never finished it. We read The Scarlet Letter. That was an odd experience as a family experience.

Sometimes we would start a book that looked promising, but it wouldn't take me long to realise that it wasn't going "to take." It just wouldn't capture the family imagination. We discovered Saffie's Angel and the family loved it. What a fun experience. Now we are reading another by the same author--Indigo's Star. It was late last night when we started reading. That was because it was a taekwondo night and we didn't get home until later. We had dinner and then it was my 19 year old who asked if we were going to read that night. I went into the living room and started reading before anyone else was there. That's because everyone was going in all directions inspite of them all agreeing that they wanted to hear more. But before I got the first page read they were all there (except for Cory who had gone to be) listening. I had only gotten a few pages read when my father called just to talk for awhile. I didnt' want to lose everyone, but I wanted to talk to my Dad too. I needn't have worried because while I talked to my Dad all my kids stayed put. They were drawing, and writing, and my wife was knitting. They just listened to a one-sided conversation until I was done and began reading again. What a sight that was.

There is something wonderful about reading as a family. There is no blank-eyed look as when everyone watches television. There is just one voice forming words while everyone listens and floats on their own imagination. Each one of us is in his own world and yet we are sharing at the same time. Sometimes we will discuss the merits of the story or a character or the quality of the writing, but usually when we are done for the night everyone just gets up and gets ready for bed. We will go months inbetween books sometimes, but with my eighth child just about here and the oldest of my younger kids just eight years old I think we will have plenty of books in the future. It's interesting how we have gone to many good movies as a family, but even though we may remember a good movie we don't remember it as a family experience. Reading together has been different. The mention of any of the books we have read together brings distinct family memories.

posted by PapaT @ 2:28 PM