Think back to your childhood. It is hopefully comprised of carefree memories; moments of playing outside with your neighbor, wearing different colored knee-socks and not caring, and laughing at the littlest of things. For me, when I think back on my incredibly happy childhood, I think about reading. My mom would read stories to my younger brother and I every day. Some were short picture books. Others were longer that were compiled into a volume of similar stories. Some were part of a series, others were not. My favorite as a young child was The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis, which tells the story of a family adventuring to stop an oversized pumpkin from rolling away. As I grew just a little bit older into elementary school, I loved the Junie B. Jones series. It was a common-of-age narrative of rambunctious Junie B. Jones from her days in kindergarten through her elementary years. When reflecting on these stories for a recent writing assignment, I was contemplating their relevance in my current, everyday life. At first, they may seem like nothing more than a childhood-pastime. On the contrary, children’s literature has affected the way in which we look at the world.
Many of the lessons and values we learned as children are directly received from the stories we read. For example, when we read Laura Numeroff’s If You Give A Mouse a Cookie, we may see how bothersome a greedy mouse is, and in that way, learn ourselves that greed is not a good quality to possess. When we read Pamela Duncan Edward’s The Worrywarts, we may see how silly it is to worry about every little thing. Through silly creatures and their nervous-habits, we have learned to laugh at our own nervous habits and relax. Dr. Suess’ Oh the Places You’ll Go! is a call to adventure in our lives. It bids readers to abandon a life of normality for one of excitement and exploration. It created a wanderlust spirit within us before we even knew what wanderlust was. Kevin Henkes’ Chrysanthemum, a story of a little mouse who is bullied about her peculiar name, encourages readers to find strength within themselves to love their individuality. It also stresses the importance of kindness. There are countless other examples, for each seemingly-silly story for children is filled with allegorical morals.
It is for this reason, and so many more, it is important that reading is continually stressed for younger generations. In a time of frequent technological advancements, it is far more common to see a child playing on a tablet then reading a chapter book. However, the important values we learned from literature as a young age is incomparable to anything learned in a video game. Reading from an early age is not simply an exercise to master skills in basic sentences, or a way to find enjoyment from the silly subjects. It is the acquisition of life lessons that are irreplaceable.
Photo sources:
Cover Photo:
http://www.thingamababy.com/baby/2009/05/bookreviews.html
Photo 1:
https://seussblog.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/oh-the-places-youll-go/