Okay, first off, you are really lucky if you have a little budding
reader at home! Take a bow; you are one of those rare parents who have
succeeded in inculcating a love for reading in your little one; giving him a
gift for life! You are also one of those exceptional parents, who not only
appreciate the beauty and the significance of words, but are benevolent enough
to let your little ones appreciate the magnificence of the world of words too!
And this benevolence on your part entitles you to the front
row seat to some of the rarest (and sometimes the quirkiest) child behaviour!
Yes, as a parent intent on raising a reader, you belong to that special group extraordinary
parents who get to witness the some really peculiar behaviour in your little
ones! Wondering what I am talking about? Well, see for yourself –
Yours is probably the only child on the block who asks for lemonade,
marshmallows and midnight snacks!
If you happen to meet my mom (try not to, for your own sake,
but if you do, then) well, she will have this amazing story to tell you about
how I would ask her for lemonade any time of the day or the night! She will
tell you how much I loved to sip on the drink as I read about the protagonist
of whatever book I was reading at that time, who would also, incidentally, be drinking
lemonade! And if you meet me, well, I will also tell you the story about how
now my little prefers hot cocoa to
his usual Bournvita and calls neembu
sharbat as lemonade! And am sure, if you have a little one at home who has
been introduced to the world of children’s stories, especially those of Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl or such all-time children’s favourites, then this is
something even you can perfectly relate to!
Your children will probably fancy themselves to be detectives/wizards/entrepreneurs/
secret agents/ princesses/descendants of Greek demi-Gods and what not, based on
what they are reading right now!
I loved Nancy Drew
as a child; and with my best friends Bess and George (names changed); was
always on the look-out for the next mystery to solve! I think I might also have
fancied a boyfriend named Ned, but that’s beside the point. I also subsequently
loved Agatha Christie and Jeffrey Archer and John Grisham and find myself
always wondering whether things are really the way they are or is there
something else lurking deeper….Well, now as a mom, I find my little one
fancying himself as Will Solvit one
day and George (from George’s Marvelous Medicine) the other! The
thing is; if you have a budding little book-lover in your home, you will no
doubt find him/her play-acting and pretending to be whatever it is that has
caught his/her fancy at that particular time!
Your children will pester you about “typically non-Indian” concepts
like earning money for chores and prom dates!
Believe me, this is true! I mean, I adored Nancy Drew as a child, but even at that
young age, I knew I would never drive a car by myself or have a boyfriend named
Ned at such a tender age! But today’s kids are very different. I got Lunch Money (by Andrew Clements) for my
little one the other day; and he wanted to know how he can himself earn money
for his allowance – especially since he cannot clean people’s yards, or babysit
or even sell some handmade comics or trinkets for money in our country!
Your children will never hear you when you call them, if they are
engrossed in reading!
This is a bit vexing; but hey, most children don’t hear us
parents when we call them, anyway; so what have we got to lose? You see, many
times, I find my little one with his book on the rocking chair and even if I call
him from the same room, he doesn’t even hear me! But I cant complain, as I too
have been scolded in my childhood for being lost to the world around me when I was
busy reading… Plus, look at the bright side here, your child is concentrating so
hard that he/she is completely engrossed in whatever it is that he/she is
reading – that if you ask me is a great ability in itself – to let oneself be
immersed in the task at hand!
Your children will randomly quote from books and stories that you may
or may not have read yourself!
Ah, this happens so many times in our home that my husband
sometimes really feels left out! (Poor thing…) You see, I have done this with
my brother a lot. Many people quote movie dialogues and give movie references –
remember going to the mattresses from the
Godfather? – Well, me and my brother;
we were all for random quotes from the books we read! And today I find it
absolutely adorable when I see my little one doing the same! Sometimes, I find
it all the more endearing when I know what book he is quoting from, but even if
I don’t, I get the whole “book-reference thing!”
Your children will be more sensitive, empathetic and a bit more mature
and understanding than their peers!
It’s not like the only fallout of raising a reader is merely
having to deal with these quirks all the time. No. There are some great
advantages of inculcating the love of books in your young ones too! One of the
major ones, for example, is that reading makes one more sensitive towards
others. It also increases one’s power of imagination and brings out more
empathy and makes one more mature. How does that happen? Well, when you read,
you imagine someone else in a hypothetical situation; thereby engaging the
brain in emotional and moral questioning. It makes one a better listener and
brings out a greater understanding in the person. Now tell me, is that an
amazing thing or what!
Your children will have an advanced vocabulary and an increased flow of
knowledge compared to their peers!
I know what you are thinking; this is a no-brainer! Well, I tend
to agree with you. You know, reading introduces us to so many new words and
phrases. It makes one’s grammar more solid and one’s language more polished. Reading
also lets one know about so many things! You get to read about far off places,
extraordinary experiences, and different perceptions of historical or political
events and so on. And this helps in increasing one’s knowledge base manifold. When you compare children who read with their peers
who do not, the difference is evident in the way the budding readers speak and
understand things and the language they use. Now, who wouldn’t want to beam
with pride at that!
Well, maybe your budding reader may not hear you call out
his name, or have these quirks (or others) as mentioned above; but the fact is,
by falling in love with the world of books at a tender age, your child has
achieved one very important thing – your children will never feel alone in the
world, ever – because now they have, in books, a friend for life!
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