Feb7

read aloud.

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*celebrating  world read aloud day

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“we have an obligation to read aloud to our children. to read them things they enjoy. to read to them stories we are already tired of. to do the voices, to make it interesting, and not to stop reading to them just because they learn to read to themselves. use reading-aloud time as bonding time, as time when no phones are being checked, when the distractions of the world are put aside.”

-neil gaiman, english author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and screenplays

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*World Read Aloud Day is celebrated on the first Wednesday in February.  This is a day dedicated not just to reading, but to the art and practice of reading aloud. Stories were passed down from generation to generation even before writing was invented. Oral forms of storytelling were the earliest way of preserving human knowledge, insight, and creativity. This day helps us bring this tradition back to reading while promoting literacy.

 

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art credit: ‘gnome’ by rien poortvliet, illustrator

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102 responses »

  4. I always feel a little lump in my throat/heart when I’m reminded it is world read aloud day. I so miss those times of reading to my children. As all heaped on the bed or snuggled on the couch. I would read Horrible History magazines with them, Tales of Narnia, The Wind Singer trilogy, and sooooo soooo much more. I miss them being small and also miss them not living in my house. They are 30+32 now so …. but I still miss this very special time

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  6. yes, there should be a special day for this: I read aloud to my kids and grand kids and I love oral storytelling and reading my poems aloud to an audience; words were meant to be heard in all their clang and splendor —–

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  31. I love this Beth..Reading aloud to anyone, especially our own young children to me represents love and just being close together doing something beloved by both the reader and the readee. Is that a word? :) I aboulutely love the illustration of that little gnome reading to his forest friends. Speaking of which..I have the book, Gnomes which is the perfect read aloud book with the most beautiful illustrations..right out of fairytale land.

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    • yes, all ages. I still love reading to, and being read to. by adults. that book sounds wonderful and I’m all about the fairytale lands and those who inhabit them

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  33. While I understand Mr. Gaiman’s point, I don’t like the use of the word “obligation” in the context of reading to kids. I certainly never thought of it as an obligation, but as a privilege and a pleasure — not least because it gave me a chance to discover so many wonderful books I’d somehow managed to miss when I was a child. Reading to my kids was the most fun part of being a mother.

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    • I like your take on it too. I interpreted his use of ‘obligation’ as something that was so very important to do. yes, the read alouds are a wonderful shared experience and I discovered many books that way as well. I still collect children’s literature.

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  35. I feel like calling up my grown children and reading to them on the phone!

    I hope all is well; I did a quick check back to your September blog posts to see if you were still teaching – happy to see that you are!

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  38. I love retirement, but that’s the one thing I miss the most with children. On the other hand, I’m still reading to seniors. Right now I’m reading an old one: Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls. He’s more famous for Where the Red Fern Grows (also amazing).

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