Bed Time With Big Kid Stories
I read to my daughter every night. Bird is two now and reading "big kid stories" has become a habit. She asks for them when she snuggles down with her blanket and puppy pillow and she falls asleep listening as I read new finds and old favorites in kid lit.
We read picture books throughout the day, but save big kid stories for bedtime when the house is quiet and only the bedside lamp circles the ceiling where spindly spiders hang in the high corners. I don't have the heart to kill them when all they do is wait on cobwebs. Charlotte's Web is, of course, one of our favorites.
I'd like to think reading big kid stories to a two-year-old helps my daughter in some way. I hope these stories full of courage in the face of struggles help Bird slip into good dreams. Maybe it's the routine of bath, bed, and books that help her drift off. Maybe it's the way I intentionally keep my voice low and rhythmic that triggers the magical incantation for sleep. Maybe it's just being tired from a good day of letters and counting and play. I can't know if our big kid stories help Bird sleep, but she's always been a good sleeper since her first board books in the hospital, so who's to say?
We've read many books in the time before sleep. I keep reading after I hear Bird's deep breathing, sometimes out loud, but usually, I'm silent. I'm reading just for me. I keep reading because big kid stories are for all "big kids" ages two to 102. Children's literature is as full of heart as works written for older audiences. The characters are as engaging, the writing as masterful, and often more so because children's authors cannot hide behind overly complex vocabulary.
Also, stories written for kids contain one crucial element. Hope.
No matter what the genre, books written for children and young adults have hope. That doesn't mean there is always a happy ending. In fact, compromised endings are the norm, a little happy, a little sad as characters grow. Still, big kid stories leave readers with the power of hope that life, in all of its crazy complexity, can make sense, because one constant whether you are a big kid or a big kid at heart is you will always have problems.
I want to teach my daughter that with creativity and resiliency, she can solve the problems she will face. I want her to end every day with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. I want her to sleep well. I believe big kid stories can help her do that.
We read picture books throughout the day, but save big kid stories for bedtime when the house is quiet and only the bedside lamp circles the ceiling where spindly spiders hang in the high corners. I don't have the heart to kill them when all they do is wait on cobwebs. Charlotte's Web is, of course, one of our favorites.
I'd like to think reading big kid stories to a two-year-old helps my daughter in some way. I hope these stories full of courage in the face of struggles help Bird slip into good dreams. Maybe it's the routine of bath, bed, and books that help her drift off. Maybe it's the way I intentionally keep my voice low and rhythmic that triggers the magical incantation for sleep. Maybe it's just being tired from a good day of letters and counting and play. I can't know if our big kid stories help Bird sleep, but she's always been a good sleeper since her first board books in the hospital, so who's to say?
We've read many books in the time before sleep. I keep reading after I hear Bird's deep breathing, sometimes out loud, but usually, I'm silent. I'm reading just for me. I keep reading because big kid stories are for all "big kids" ages two to 102. Children's literature is as full of heart as works written for older audiences. The characters are as engaging, the writing as masterful, and often more so because children's authors cannot hide behind overly complex vocabulary.
Also, stories written for kids contain one crucial element. Hope.
No matter what the genre, books written for children and young adults have hope. That doesn't mean there is always a happy ending. In fact, compromised endings are the norm, a little happy, a little sad as characters grow. Still, big kid stories leave readers with the power of hope that life, in all of its crazy complexity, can make sense, because one constant whether you are a big kid or a big kid at heart is you will always have problems.
I want to teach my daughter that with creativity and resiliency, she can solve the problems she will face. I want her to end every day with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. I want her to sleep well. I believe big kid stories can help her do that.
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