I have been thinking a lot lately about the way people in my life have influenced me and more importantly the way the people in our lives influence our children. I posted before the anecdote… ‘When you thought I wasn’t looking’ by Connie Black. Children notice the smallest things, emotions, actions, tones, ideals and morals and they take these things through to their adult lives, consciously or otherwise.
As I sit here in Costa Coffee inside Easons book store in Dun Laoghaire the sun shine is oozing in the windows, there is the pleasant buzz of the coffee grinder and the subtle hum of the milk frother in the back ground a wave of nostalgia has hit. A distant memory came to light of my Aunty Liz taking me to a book shop with a café in it when I was young. I couldn’t’ tell you which bookstore(in Adelaide Australia somewhere I guess) or why we were there or what we ordered all I remember was that we were there together and I was having fun.
I was so lucky to be surrounded by cool Aunts and Uncles growing up. They all loved to read. They all took me to book stores and they all gave me books as I was growing up. Books that were challenging and interesting. Books that I didn’t understand, or thought that I understood until we started talking about it and their questions made me want to go back and read them again and get a different meaning out of the pages that hadn’t hit me the first time around. The reason I thought that I would share this bit of nostalgia is that tomorrow is World Book Day. I found myself asking the question 'where did my love of books come from?' I find myself with the desire to surround Amelie with book lovers, with people who can find a real adventure within a story, with people that can get lost in pages for days and days, with people who when they get on to a good read can not put it down for anything. I am one of these people, I love books and reading. I don’t care what Ame reads, as long as she reads. So I will surround her with books, with people who love to read, I will read to her, I will read with her, I will take her to libraries and I will definitely take her to book stores that have café’s hidden inside and I hope that I pass on the special gift I was given growing up.
Happy World Book Day to Everyone,
Especially my Aunty Liz for taking me to book stores with cafés in them. My Uncle Mike for the Lord of the Rings and quizzing me on the Hobbit and my Uncle Paul for Dostoevsky, Hesse and for pushing me always to be better in my writing.
Love Angi x
For great tips on reading with your children check out this Facebook page. They post daily tips for creating a love of reading in little ones. Reading with Infants, Toddlers and Pre-schoolers and also give some excellent statisticss to keep us all focused on the importance of reading and early childhood education. The World Book Day web page has loads of online celebrations happening today to pop over and take a look http://www.worldbookday.com/
