“Children who are not spoken to by live and responsive adults will not learn to speak properly. Children who are not answered will stop asking questions. They will become incurious. And children who are not told stories and who are not read to will have few reasons for wanting to learn to read.” (Gail Haley in her 1971 Caldecott Medal acceptance speech)
We all know that, don't we? Read to children, and there is a much greater chance that they will grow up to be readers. But it is not just children who benefit from hearing stories read to them. I just bought The Enchanted Hour: The miraculous power of reading aloud in the age of distraction by Meghan Cox Gurdon for the library. The publisher has this to say about the book: "A miraculous alchemy occurs when one person reads to another, transforming the simple stuff of a book, a voice, and a bit of time into complex and powerful fuel for the heart, brain, and imagination. Grounded in the latest neuroscience and behavioral research, and drawing widely from literature, The Enchanted Hour explains the dazzling cognitive and social-emotional benefits that await children, whatever their class, nationality or family background. But it’s not just about bedtime stories for little kids: Reading aloud consoles, uplifts and invigorates at every age, deepening the intellectual lives and emotional well-being of teenagers and adults, too." Listening to audio books has its place, but the benefits of reading aloud are even greater.
I once knew a man who had been brought up in an orphanage in Connecticut. He had been taken away from his abusive mother when he was 7 and stayed in the orphanage until he ran away at the age of 15. He said it wasn't all bad because the matron would gather all the little boys together at night and read to them. She read all the classics that children should be exposed to to make them culturally literate. But just as important as the stories was the sharing, the building of community, and the knowledge that this strict, no nonsense woman cared about the boys. The man grew up to be a life long reader and learner who founded a well respected non-profit that provided housing for the homeless in Los Angeles.
I can't imagine how barren my life would have been if I hadn't had a mother who read to me. The joys of the Mickey Mouse Club and Stan Boreson were nothing compared to spending an hour a day listening to my mother read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Wind in the Willows, E Nesbit's books, and Stuart Little. We were living in our first house when she read The Borrowers, The 101 Dalmations, and Winnie the Pooh to me so I know that that was before I turned four and a half. They have all remained favorites of mine, and I shared them with my two sons. They tell me that they particularly liked Bemelman's Madeline books and De Brunhoff's Babar along with Winnie the Pooh and The Wind in the Willows. In fact, one of my sons and his wife make a habit of reading to each other, and The Wind in the Willows is one of the books they have shared - more than once.
My other son and his wife have been licensed to provide respite care for foster parents. At a Friends of the Library book sale, I got a big box of books for them to share with the foster children they take care of. Awhile ago, they had a twelve year old girl and her four year old brother staying with them until a new home could be found for the children. My son and daughter-in-law had as much fun reading their old favorites (and a lot of new books) to the children as the kids did hearing the stories. I told my son to make sure that the children left with some books of their own. When I hear about the troubled lives these children lead, I know that books won't solve all their problems, but I hope that, like the man who grew up in an orphanage, books and reading will help.
Once, when I was reading the Sunday comics section, I saw a "Zits" comic strip that really illustrated the value of reading aloud. The mom says to her teenaged son "Oh, Jeremy! Look! A box of your old picture books! Here's Goodnight Moon, Curious George, Brown Bear, Brown Bear... (Gasp!) Harold and the Purple Crayon! Do you remember this one?" And so they start telling each other about all the things that Harold drew with his purple crayon; and before you know it, Jeremy (big, tall, teenaged Jeremy) had plopped onto his mother's lap and was saying "Start from the beginning". (Many of the books I've mentioned, and the books that Jeremy's mom mentioned, are in our library waiting for you to share them with the children - or adults - in your life.)
Many years ago, I made a little video where I gave some tips on how to read aloud to very small children. If you copy and paste this hyperlink- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sNqnRNzNqw&t=15s, it should take you to the video. So gather some books and a child or two, and make a lasting difference to their lives when you share the joy of reading.