However, there are many things about myself and about my wife that I hope will make it into the makeup of our child. One of the things that I do want to pass along to Nugget is my love of reading. I've been a bookworm for as long as I can remember, and probably for longer than that. I remember loving story time with my parents and grandparents, and I remember the deep satisfaction that I felt as I began to read on my own. There were endless worlds out there to explore once I was able to open a book. I could really go anywhere. LeVar Burton was certainly on to something...
A small selection of the growing library at 711 Percy Street
I am excited and hopeful to pass along this love of the written word. But I haven't actually read a story out loud to someone in a very long time. To make sure that I could do it with the inflection and style that so enthralled me as a little kid, I decided to test out my skills on my wife last night.
I started with my personal favorite from the world of children's literature. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel was written in 1939 by Virginia Lee Burton, and it was in constant rotation at the Farabee household when I was growing up. It tells the story of Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, Mary Anne, who have worked together for many years but are now feeling the pinch of progress as more modern shovels are taking all of the jobs (heady stuff for a little kid, but it had pretty pictures). Mike and Mary Anne go off into the country and find a small town in need of a town hall. They offer their services to dig the cellar, saying that they can do it all in one day. Take a guess on whether or not they succeed.
The story ends on a remarkably happy note for a story published during the Great Depresion. Neglecting to dig a ramp out of the cellar, Mary Anne finds herself trapped at the bottom of the completed cellar. A child suggests that they convert her into the boiler for the building, and Mike Mulligan is hired to be the janitor for the new town hall. The two friends get to be together in the end. Cue the water works.
I read this to Elizabeth before bed, and I was only a few pages in before she was passed out (I finished the rest this morning). I'd like to take all of the credit for this, but I have a suspicion that the trans Atlantic flight the day before had more to do with it than my dulcet reading voice.
Reading outloud is surprisingly more difficult than I remember. I kept having to repeat words and sentences over because I would either read them out of order or add words in that I thought were coming up. But I think a did a good job of it. I made sure to have a different voice for each of the characters. I made sure to read slowly during the sad or more thoughtful parts, and I added a flair of excitement when the story really started picking up at the end. Like Mike and Mary Anne, I really started to pick up steam.
Last night's exercise was great because it got me thinking about all of the stories that I loved growing up. Not just Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, but also the classics of Dr. Seuss and the Curious George series. The Berenstein Bears, Little Golden Books, and the gorgeously ilustrated books of Jan Brett. For goodness sake, Where the Wild Things Are!
This lead me to start thinking of all the great books beyond those that were my introduction to reading. Books like The Chronicles of Narnia and A Wrinkle in Time and The House with the Clock in its Walls and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and The BFG. The Phantom Tollboth...HARRY POTTER!!!
I can't wait for Nugget to be exposed to these stories and countles more. I can't wait for him or her to discover stories of their own, stories that they will want to share with their own children some day.
I can't wait to read a story to my child, and to one day have them read it back to me.
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