The Wildcat's Lair

My love of books developed later in my life than I would have liked.  Until my senior year in high school, I despised the "task" of reading.  I've long hoped my children will not have to wait late in life to find that reading can be fun and not something one is forced to do when taking an English class.

One of my favorite moments with my kids is story time, and as with the books I choose for myself, I've found some I and my kids enjoy more than others.  Today, I thought I'd let "Son & Daughter of the Wildcat" take over the lair and share some of the books they enjoy having read to them.

My daughter and son both discovered Winnie the Pooh early in their lives.  Once upon a time, Pooh was the "Tom Cruise" of my little girl's universe.  She abandoned Pooh for a more favored stuffed animal as she moved into her toddler years, but she and her brother still love to have "Daddy" read about Pooh to them.

A few years ago, Disney put out a set of Winnie the Pooh picture books called the "It's Fun to Learn" series.  The fifteen books proved among some of the favorites in their collection, partly because most (if not all) were bought for them by their grandmother.  The first of the books was titled A Surprise Garden.  In the early days of these books, I really got into the stories for the kids, providing special voices for all the characters.  I do a killer "Eeyore," but my "Tigger" could use some work.  The kids no longer permit me to do the voices, but they still enjoy when I read these stories to them.

I'm sorry to say that finding these books won't prove easy for any parents who go looking for them.  Barnes and Noble.com offers a link to some used bookstores, and there's always ebay, of course.

One book my daughter introduced us to was a picture book titled Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  I'd never heard of the book, but once we started reading it, the kids loved it.  The book follows the adventures of the alphabet as they climb the coconut tree and come crashing down with a (you guessed it) "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!"  My kids enjoy that part best, and we usually give the sofa or bed a good jolt when we read it.  The kids insist on going through the entire alphabet and make me use the page showing the entire alphabet to help them spell some of their friend's names, so it's proven both entertaining and educational (can't believe I'm actually using that phrase... Lord help me).

Possibly my favorite of their early board books is Sandra Boynton's Horns to Toes.  In addition to the cute pictures of the monsters, the words just naturally come out of my mouth like a song that gets stuck in my head for hours.  I make good use of my bass voice and let it rumble in a "monster voice" while pointing out the kids' body parts as the book refers to everything from, well, "horns to toes."  There's even a great part where I get to tickle the kids with this one.  Even though they've technically "graduated" from the board books, I still pull this one out every few months to play with them.  The kids enjoyed a lot of Boynton's board books, including Birthday Monsters, Hey! Wake Up! and But Not the Hippopotamus (which met a most unfortunate end within the destructive claws of my little wildcats).

Hope you enjoyed this little diversion from my usual readingselections.  My kids, like most, manage to steal center stage quite often.  Only fair they get some time within their daddy's lair.

All right, kids.  Now, get back to your lightsaber lessons.

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• #2 Comment from pixiedustnme 
  10/21/05 9:18 PM | Permalink

  chicka chicka boom boom will there be enough room.....for all these books??  http://journals.aol.com/pixiedustnme/Inmyopinion/entries/1303
• #1 Comment from plittle 
  10/21/05 11:00 AM | Permalink

  Reading with your kids now is the best way to encourage in them a future love of reading. To them I say, "Obi-Wan has taught you well."
  -Paul
  http://journals.aol.ca/plittle/AuroraWalkingVacation/