Raising a Reader

I am so proud to announce that Todd read his first book, Today I Will Fly! by Mo Willems last week, on the Fourth of July to be exact. I had read a review of this book in a parenting magazine and it sounded funny for the boys. It wasn't until I got it from the library and looked through it that I considered that it might be easy enough for Todd to try to read. Todd has been trying to sound words out more and more. I had meant to work on reading with him this summer, but the time has flown by so quickly.

I was resting and reading a book in bed when Todd woke up from his required Fourth of July nap early. He came onto the bed with me and I thought, "Why not? Let's give it a try." Obviously, Todd needed some help. And there were times when Todd wanted to give us because he said, "It's too hard. I can't read it." But I made him stick it out and when we finished he was able to say that he read the whole book. I am looking forward to going back to the library and getting some more books that might be appropriate for him to try reading on his own. I can see that we will have some frustrating times as we learn to read together, but I am so excited for him and so pleased with his desire to learn and his ability to pick up on reading so quickly.