Look at this:
This is a photo of a six year old girl who is blooming into a glorious bookworm.
Now I’m not saying Amy is a genius, although obviously she is. But the speed at which she’s picked up reading has been bloody remarkable. In 18 months she’s gone from A is for Apple to being able to read pretty much anything you put in front of her (provided it’s in context and part of her vocabulary).
This last week or so she’s suddenly made the leap to reading chapter, rather than picture books. This evening I took her shopping with me and she spent the entire time wandering around the supermarket with her head in a book bumping into random people.
Sure, the books she’s reading aren’t exactly Charles Dickens. Just how many of those damn Rainbow Fairy books are there anyway? But to be fair the books Kerry and I read aren’t exactly classics either (although I do have a penchant for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).
I’ll do my bit to try to shift her onto Roald Dahl, Richmal Crompton, and Norman Hunter in due course. But even if her taste in books, like her taste in TV shows, ends up dramatically at odds to my own I’ll still be overjoyed that she’s found the ability to lose herself in a novel.
My wonderful beautiful bookworm.
Related posts:
Awww. Ya big sap.
.-= Martin´s last blog ..Walking =-.
@Martin, yup
Awwww Dan that made me fill up. Miss E has a ton of those books. I think there are about a million. Get her onto Andy Stanton too. He’s fabulous. :D
.-= Jo Beaufoix´s last blog ..The Little Penny And The Little Girl =-.
@Jo Beaufoix, didn’t he play Golum in Lord of the rings?
@Dan, Nope, that was Andy Serkis I think. Andy Stanton writes the Mr Gum books. I actually quite love him.
http://www.evewhite.co.uk/new/component/page,shop.browse/category_id,2/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,41/
Sos, I have no idea how to add that link without it being huge, but it’s really worth looking.
.-= Jo Beaufoix´s last blog ..Broken =-.
That is outstanding. I love when kids start reading. :)
.-= Avitable´s last blog ..TMI should stand for "Tales Meant to Inform (and Entertain)". =-.
@Avitable, thanks man. Yes, it is rather cool :)
Isn’t it amazing? My Anna (now 7) is the same way. Literally bumping into people as she reads walking down the aisles. Has in fact read everything in the house. We can’t keep up with her. I love, love, love it.
Isn’t it amazing? My Anna (now 7) is the same way. Literally bumping into things as she reads walking down aisles in stores. Has in fact read everything in the house. We can’t keep up with her. I love, love, love it. Good for your Amy. I hope it’s a lifelong obsession.
.-= Kristin´s last blog ..Bracing for impact =-.
@Kristin, I’m now trying to come up with a scheme to get her reading my old batman comics.
It feels so good to see them reading! We went through the Faeries. I think there are about 952 of them. Then it was on to Junie B. Jones. Now it’s all about the Magic Tree House. Youngest didn’t start reading until later but now that she’s reading, she does it determined to make up for lost time. If Amy gets tired of the faeries, Cam Jansen is a fun series with a girl detective as the main character. She might like those. And then there’s…Ohh, don’t get me started on children’s books. My inner librarian goes wild! Anyways, go Amy!
.-= ImPerceptible´s last blog ..Running Off With a Bass Player or Somethin’ =-.
@ImPerceptible, thanks for the tips. I must admit, most of the kids books I’m aware of are very much from the “boys books” genre
just looking at that image makes my heart sing, books were my best friends growing up. I loved to read and hope oneday the boys will be the same too
.-= The Mad House´s last blog ..Ecover Concentrating Laundry Liquid – Review =-.
@The Mad House, Me too – I was a massive reader. Not so much any more mind you, I don’t have the time these days.
It really is the best thing ever for a kid. I know people who spend so much time encouraging their kids to play sports, but not to read. They’ll go much further with a book than with a ball.
Reading also makes bedtime a snap.
.-= Idaho Dad´s last blog ..Public Speaking =-.
@Idaho Dad, although according to my mother sports keep kids kids longer – especially girls.
Are you using a particular method for her reading? That’s really good progress. We used Hooked on Phonics for both our boys and they made impressive progress too. Just wondering if it was a phonics based thing or something else. Good for her :-)
.-= Keith Wilcox´s last blog ..Cacao: Put a Chili in it =-.
@Keith Wilcox, it’s Jolly Phoics, but mainly taught at school, we just supported.
Yeah! Great job Amy. Thus begins a wonderful relationship that will last a lifetime.
.-= Seattledad´s last blog ..Hammering Man =-.
@Seattledad, yup – although hopefully with slightly fewer rainbow fairies.
I’m psyched just because my 9 mo. old twins love to chew on books! Can’t wait till they start to actually read them.
.-= beta dad´s last blog ..Moscow ’79 Part II: Cosmos Hotel =-.
@beta dad, just make sure they don’t swallow them.
I love reading and loved it as a kid.
My 13 and 11 year olds who never were big readers in the last year have become avid bookworms as well.
.-= Susie´s last blog ..Good Friends Will Help You Out Without Thinking Twice =-.
@Susie, I think it’s probably all about finding the right book to spark the imagination.
Wonderful. I hope I can help instill the same enthusiasm in my two.
.-= Steve´s last blog ..On bees =-.
@Steve, build it and they will come. Or at least assemble the IKEA bookcase.
Dudelet is starting to discover reading books with chapters in for fun too. With him, its Astrosaurs. Other stuff (maybe even Sherlock Holmes) will come later.
She looks so rapt! Aren’t books marvellous?
.-= Dad Who Writes´s last blog ..Worst. Nigerian. Scam. Ever. =-.
@Dad Who Writes, Astrosaurs sound a lot more exciting than rainbow fairies.
Your children are all shaded of awesome Daniel, and this little nugget of information only heightens that. Will be stealing this at some point in my Tidy Books guise.
.-= Socrates´s last blog ..I am not dead =-.
@Socrates, steal away.
ah it’s a wonderful thing, the ability to lose yourself with the pages of a book, even it is about fairies and rainbows. she really doesn’t look six, does she? Well, not in this picture anyway.
.-= Heather´s last blog ..Heather The Home Wrecker =-.
@Heather, you mean she looks older or younger?
I love the concentration on Amy’s face! When you have a book you are never alone! Encourage and feed!
.-= Grannymar´s last blog ..One of my Fears =-.
@Grannymar, Will do.
Hey Dan
Lids is just the same (I do understand about the Rainbow Fairies though!). She’s on ‘Charlie & the Chocolate Factory’ at the mo. Reading’s great, but I am waiting for the day when we go down Chapel Hill and she asks me what a ‘Gentleman’s Club’ is!
.-= Rachael´s last blog ..Fantastic Opportunity for a day out in Edinburgh… =-.
@Rachael, We’ve read the Enormous Crocodile and the Twits together, but she hasn’t picked them up independently yet.
Very good to see that. Our boys used to like audio books too, especially for car journeys.
.-= mark´s last blog ..Poverty – and a moral dilemma. =-.
@mark, We’re all about Eric Herman in the car at our house.
thank goodness…n video games…no Wii
just a book
how refreashing!!!
@john gray, well, to be fair there are computer games too :)
@Dan,
aw dont say that
I had visions of my childhood….
“Janet and John ” books and mother’s hour on the radio!!!
(ps I do have a twin sister called janet by the way!!!)
HOW 1960S
Ahh that is just lovely. I have a 6 year old too and he is amazing me with how quick his reading is progressing. He does bed tie stories to his sisters now and I love that! Mich x
@Michelle, Amy occasonally reads to Evan too. I’m just waiting for her to learn how to use the microwave so she can take over parenting completely.
.-= Dan´s last blog ..when the weather is fine, you know it’s the time for messin’ about on the river =-.
I like your daughter. I spent my whole childhood with my nose in a book.
.-= Mwa´s last blog ..Birth stories, part I: the birth of Jack =-.
@Mwa, Me too – mainly due to an accident with a tube of superglue at an early age.
.-= Dan´s last blog ..A Newly Hatched Bookworm =-.
That is wonderful. I hold high hopes that all my reading to the boys will spark their own love of reading as they get older.
.-= Holmes´s last blog ..How You Do It* =-.
@Holmes, I think there is definitely something in the theory that reading breeds reading
.-= Dan´s last blog ..A Newly Hatched Bookworm =-.
She won’t go far wrong.
.-= Rol´s last blog ..Luke and Jon =-.
@Rol, I dunno – remember she has me as a father.
.-= Dan´s last blog ..A Newly Hatched Bookworm =-.
I have a little bookworm also. Only we don’t have books about fairies and princesses, he’s addicted to Fleabag MonkeyFace and Captain Underpants . . . still it’s all reading
Gorgeous gorgeous photo. Me likey very much. Me pinchy the idea too . . .
.-= Tara@Sticky Fingers´s last blog ..The Gallery: Gluttony =-.
@Tara@Sticky Fingers, I saw you stole it. That’s ok though because I’m planning on hyjacking your gallery for my own ends next week.
.-= Dan´s last blog ..A Newly Hatched Bookworm =-.
Beautiful picture, she reminds me of me when I was her age. :) x
@Susan Mann, Thanks. My wife Kerry took it. she has a photoblog here : http://cloudofstarlings.blogspot.com/
.-= Dan´s last blog ..A Newly Hatched Bookworm =-.
Ah it’s a beautiful thing. Just wait till she discovers the joy of the Captain Underpants’ series…lol
@Vegemitevix, I’m very much looking forward to it :)
.-= Dan´s last blog ..A Newly Hatched Bookworm =-.