Thank you, Laura (Ingalls Wilder)

Tonight, as I was cooking dinner, my reluctant reader came into the kitchen hiding a book like she was hiding a stolen cookie. I asked Ruthie what she had under the table and she pulled out Little House in the Big Woods. She wanted to start reading the book, would that be okay with me?

How did this happen?

Unlike her older sister, Ruthie has never been one for reading. (I have actually said words to Chante I never thought I would say as a mother like, “Put down that book; you can’t read again until you get such and such done.” ) However, things started to change for Ruthie a few weeks ago.

It started with a summer library reading challenge…read 4 books in 6 weeks. No problem, I thought, Chante use to read double or triple that. Well, Ruthie wasn’t at all pleased I had signed her up. She reluctantly finished her books, even shedding a few tears over it all. I had told her I would reward her with a trip to a local bookstore – maybe not the treat she was hoping for, but it had some sticker books she liked.

When she finished the challenge we headed to the bookstore, but instead of the sticker book Ruthie picked out three small books (something about fairies) to buy. Yay!!

Next, when school started last month, I came across some books I had purchased at a charity shop. They were four small books in a box set. The series is well known here in the UK and is called Milly-Molly-Mandy. The stories were written in the early 20th century by Joyce Lankester Brisley and are sweet tales of a much more innocent era. Ruthie hadn’t been interested in them last year, but I piqued her interest with the first chapter and she begged me to read more.

Well, habits are formed fairly quickly with younger children. We enjoyed our daily read aloud time, but these books were soon done; now what to do?

At the library I picked up another British children’s classic - The Family from One End Street written in 1937 by Eve Garnett. This book has lengthier chapters and the vocabulary is a bit more complicated. However, we waded through the first chapter and she got hooked.

And I think that is the key….Ruthie finally realized how intriguing a book can be. How exciting it is to meet new people, but in a book! Maybe she just finally got old enough to understand a plot and enjoy the ride.

Well, yesterday in her 3rd grade reading book, she read an excerpt from Little House on the Prairie.  She only had to read half, but she read the entire chapter. She couldn’t put it down. Today, I showed her that we own the whole Little House series and I told her, once we finish the book we are currently reading together, we could start the first book in the series.

So that takes us to tonight, hiding the book. She didn’t want to wait! Could I have been more excited?! Of course I told her to start the book. She sat at the kitchen table and read passages to me that she thought were funny or that she thought I would like. She then asked if I would read the chapter again to her, aloud….and she wouldn’t let me stop at one, we had to read two!

So thank you Laura, Joyce, Eve and all the other fantastic children’s writers of the past … you have sparked another child’s imagination and love for reading!

I am grateful!

Suzanne