Dr. Diana Sharp served as the reading consultant for ItzaBitza. Her website is www.dianasharp.com.
Dear Dr. Sharp:
In your last posting, you described your #1 piece of advice for preschool parents who want their kids to love reading. What’s your #2 suggestion?
My next suggestion is: “Do the opposite of Advice #1.”
OK, let me explain. In my last posting, I talked about using children’s sparks of interest in the world as the starting point for connecting them to books:
“If a child gets interested in a bug on the porch, or a puppy next door, or drawing rockets in ItzaBitza, say things like ‘That is SO COOL! We have GOT to get some books about (bugs/puppies/rockets)!’ “
But you can also make this world-and-books connection by starting at the opposite point: books. Don’t just pick out books for your children based on their interests. Mix it up! Grab a random bagful of books at the library and see what you get. If you see your child show a spark of interest in something in the book: bring it to life. Go out into the world and see/do/smell/taste what you read about together.
There is something inherently powerful about seeing something from a page – or screen – become real. Look at how enchanted children become when they see that miracle happen with their drawings on ItzaBitza or ItzaZoo. Carry that same enchantment into your children’s relationship with books, even before they learn to read on their own.
The year before my daughter went to kindergarten, I started reading her the E.B. White novel, Trumpet of the Swan. I chose it because it was a book I had loved. (Never assume there is only one “right” way to choose a book!) Part of the adventure takes place in the Boston Public Garden, where they have boats shaped like swans. By coincidence, while we were reading the book, my cousin invited my daughter to be the flower girl at his wedding – in Boston.
“Oh!” I said to my daughter. “We have GOT to ride the swan boats! Just like in the book!”
And we did. What we read about in the book became real in the world, in our lives. It was a lovely thing…
…unlike the book-world connection proposed by my daughter a short time later. We were reading a book about unusual foods that people eat. Including insects. There was even an Internet link to recipes.
“Oh!” my daughter said. “We have GOT to make chocolate chip cricket cookies! Just like in the book!”
This was not the kind of sweet follow-up to the swan boat adventure that I had imagined. But she was so excited. I called a friend of mine who was always up for
unusual entertainment options for her preschool twin boys, and always quick to recognize the potential for a good story. She jumped – like a cricket – at the idea. (Everyone needs a friend like that.)
The next day we were at the pet store, buying live crickets. The cashier smiled at my daughter. “And what kind of pet are you feeding with these, dear?” My daughter happily explained the crickets’ purpose, while I pretended to search for something in my purse.
We read additional information on the Internet about how to prepare the dry-roasted crickets before adding them to the cookie batter. Apparently crickets develop a nasty taste if they die before being roasted, so you have to put them in the fridge until they are in a kind of stupor. Then you place the zombie crickets on a cookie sheet and – feeling like the witch in Hansel and Gretel – pop them in the oven.
It’s very macabre. The children were utterly delighted with the entire process. The cookies had a slightly nutty flavor. The worst part for me was having a roasted cricket leg get stuck between my teeth.
It’s all for a good cause, I kept telling myself. Later that year when my daughter went to kindergarten, she shared the experience one day at circle time. I heard that the other children were fascinated. “I told them we got the idea from a book!” my daughter said.
Reading can matter to your children, especially if you sometimes bring books to life. What could make a trip to the library more exciting than knowing it just might lead to a real life adventure?
How much did experiences like these help my daughter – now 13 – love books? I can’t answer that. I do know she loves them, and when I ask her what she remembers about being a flower girl in Boston, she says, “Not much. Except the swan boats.”
Now, if you want a cricket cookie recipe, here’s one from the Iowa State University Entomology Club:
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectsasfood/chirpie.html
Or you could ask Rachel Ray.
Boom-di-yada, boom-di-yada!
