The joy of reading aloud

I like reading aloud. I guess its a sort of performance art, hearkening back to my days as a preschool teacher or as an actor at school.

Most of the books that we read to the girls are easy readers with photos on every page. Oftentimes they are more artwork than story. Jadzia has always been our most voracious reader, and she has slowly been building up her ability to listen.

Last year I read to her a condensed, illustrated version of the Wind in the Willows. She enjoyed it, although after every chapter she would ask “So, what happened?”

Right now we are making our way through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This is the real version of the story, not condensed, with a limited number of illustrations. Jadzia really seems to love it, and she also is following the story much better.

The only issue is that Ludi does not quite have Jadzia’s patience yet. But she’ll come along eventually.

I know it’s still a few years off, but I am really looking forward to reading the Hobbit with these girls. (Jadzia occasionally asks me to read little bits from it, but she doesn’t totally understand what’s going on)