posted on 01 Oct 2016

Raising a reader: Boden's first three months

I am sometimes told that I need to tone down my passion for children's books but I can't bear to think that people might ignore them. I was a much gentler soul when I was a young parent and so didn't do the job of enthusing them about books very effectively with either of my own two children. They certainly liked listening to stories and looking at books when they were little, but rarely read them for enjoyment once they went to school. Grandchildren are a new and exciting challenge for me but I know that I must be so careful not to overwhelm them with too many book gifts, just in case I put them off (rubbish, we all know that children can't have a surplus of books don't we)? I think that the answer might be to give one lovely one at a time and then ensure repeated readings and the chance to enjoy the experience over and over, because even very young babies can get a great deal from that. So whilst I happily bombarded my granddaughter with beautiful picture books from day one, I've decided to slow down just a little bit with my new grandson.

I first met Boden in the hospital when he was just two days old and presented him with his first classic picture book ' The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle to which it must be said he did not respond at all. In fact, as I posed for a photo with him in my arms and the open book in front of him, he stayed soundly asleep.

Not to be deterred, the next attempt at two weeks was to post him a copy of 'Peekaboo Park' by Emily Bolam, a simple but at the same time highly complex picture book which I have reviewed in detail elsewhere http://www.letterpressproject.co.uk/inspiring-young-readers/2016-07-12/the-complexity-of-simple-picture-books . I had a go at sharing this one with him a week later and his response was still to keep his eyes tightly closed. Time for a bit of a pause perhaps - well a couple of weeks anyway.

By five weeks he was much more alert, even starting to smile and communicating with anyone who took the time to talk with him in a way that promised he would be highly intelligent. Ok, I am probably a bit prejudiced but decided it was time for another book gift. This time I chose 'Clip Clop' by Nicola Smee, a rhythmical little story that my grand daughter had really loved when she was a few months older than her cousin. Other than keeping his eyes open this time and appearing to focus as I turned the pages, there was still no obvious response, but sitting cozily on my lap while I read it to him was surely a pleasant and positive  experience and getting him early into the reading habit.

I am amazed at how quickly babies develop and by six weeks he was definitely more alert and interested in everything around him. His mum and dad reported that he seemed to be looking and listening more closely as they shared a range of books with him as often as possible. My son is a big fan of owls in any shape or form and so often picked out ' Wow Said The Owl' from the available selection to read and I imagine that he hoped to pass on his interest by reading it with great enthusiasm. At seven weeks I tried Boden with 'Whose Tail? 'by Sam Lloyd and he seemed to respond to the very dramatic and colourful illustrations by tensing his hands on the turn of each page, or perhaps that was just coincidence. He was certainly responding to my voice and seemed to be enjoying himself. By eight weeks he had accumulated quite an impressive collection and regular favourites for them all were 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' and ones that they had found in the charity shop, particularly 'My First Dinosaur Book' and 'Peepo Baby!' by George Burkett. Of course the key here was that they were really enjoying the shared experience as much as he was, cuddling and kissing him as they read. Much to my delight they told me that they had decided on a new family routine and so took turns to read each page of at least one book every evening if possible.

Life gets in the way and the nightly routine soon started to slip a bit but every time I visited they reported that they had been sharing books with him regularly throughout the day and also buying lots more to add to his bookshelf. At this point I think that I realised I was in danger of making this shared book reading malarkey into a bit of a chore for them. When he was nine weeks old I had given them his weekly book, this time 'The Gruffalo' by Julia Donaldson with a soft toy plus a small notebook for them to keep track of his reading and his reactions and even as I did this I thought ' Oops - I need to back off!' When I asked them about it the other day I couldn't help but notice a guilty exchange of looks almost to say ' Oh no - weren't you going to write in it?' It rather reminded me of the arguments my son and I used to have years ago about completing his school homework diary which never seemed to be up to date. So were they doing this reading books thing just to please me, or possibly to just shut me up? Were they even telling me the whole truth? What on earth was I thinking - was I going to scupper the potential reading future of another child because I was overdoing the pressure?

On my week twelve visit armed with my latest offering, the lovely softly illustrated 'Mockingbird Song' by Carol Thompson, I realised that I needn't lose sleep over this. A few days before I had received a text message from my son: 'I'm really enjoying buying books for Boden' and I squeaked with glee as I read it. When I arrived at their house he presented me with a copy of a stunning pop up book ' In the Forest' by Chuck Boisrobert and Louis Rigaud as a gift for my own collection and then proudly showed me several others that he had bought at the weekend. He had added them to a growing pile of beautifully illustrated books that he had been accumulating for a few years. Apart from these ones, which he admitted were just a little bit advanced for a three month old baby, Boden's own special bookshelf was growing full and they told me that one of his current favourites was ' That's not my Cow ' by Fiona Watt which his mum enjoys reading with him including leading his hands to touch the different textures on each page.

So yes I will certainly keep giving and recommending many more picture books as the months go by, but now I can relax because, despite my dangerously bossy interference, it seems that Boden's parents are definitely raising a reader.

Karen Argent 

October 2016