Rethinking Reading

¨Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.¨ -Kofi Annan

¨One of the greatest gifts adults can give-to their offspring and to their society-is to read to children.¨ -Carl Sagan

Before my first child was born, I had collected all the board books and basic children books I could get my hands on without making an international purchase. I had read about the importance of reading to children, even from the youngest age and I felt like any day I let pass without a book in our hands was like withholding a great gift from my child.

I am blessed to have grown up in a culture that places such value on reading. I was welcomed into a world of books that was introduced to me by my mother and encouraged by just about every adult in my world. I know that I was read to by my mom as a child and I flourished in school because of books. I don´t think I had a single year without a teacher who made my parents sign papers affirming the requirement of weekly reading. And now my American friends and I still talk about the books we read and get to recommend our favorites to each other. 

My husband, on the other hand, did not grow up in this same world and so when he hears my conversations go to books, he scratches his head and wonders why I haven´t hung up yet. He obviously can read because they teach it in school, but it never brings out wanderlust. I had to introduce him to Dr. Seuss when he was 28 and I felt the need to sit the day he confessed he had never read a novel. I was shocked. I knew reading wasn´t a big deal, but I was blind to just how much he had missed. So many genres uncovered, so many types of writing without exposure. But really, he is more normal than me if we look at the rest of the world.

My disposition towards reading and academics has definitely impacted my life internationally. It´s left me critical in some instances and ignorant in others. Being that I´ve learned to read a variety of genres, I can learn about whatever I want. I get to skim new kitchen recipes while my friends watch a fifteen minute youtube video with the same content. I do well in textbook courses and I don´t mind reading through the gruesome lists of rules for international visas or driving. I can tutor children and middle schoolers, in other contexts and cultures, without understanding the content, as long as they bring in a book.

I have become baffled by comments of others asking why I haven´t sent my two year old to school yet. Individuals express concern that he won´t learn to speak. But books. Camilo was saying ¨Miss Mary Mack¨ and ¨Goodnight room, goodnight moon¨ before he could formulate his own complete thoughts. I have been saddened by friends who will never read my blogs because that´s just not a part of life. I have gifted books to friends wanting to research a new topic, ignorant that they have no experience just learning from a book. I have grabbed book after book in the Lao language and wondered why they all seem to have some propaganda type warning message. But reading to read has no place.

At other times, my training in books has made me too trained. Unable to see the value of experiences beyond the page. Wanting to depend on well scripted verses rather than what is given in the moment. I can play most songs on my clarinet, old or new, given a sheet of music. But, it doesn´t do any good if I can´t join my group of friends because I can´t play by ear. I can read a recipe, but I´ll never get my Mexican mother-in-law to write out measurements on a notecard for my husband´s favorite dish. At some point, as my aunt told me while teaching me to drive a stick-shift, ¨You just have to feel it.¨ And sometimes, I force myself to yield to my husband´s common sense knowing that although the sign in front of me says one thing, the reality may actually be different.

I still wouldn´t think about taking a book out of my son´s hands. His vocabulary is astounding. His imagination has grown from books. And now he has just a general love for books that he gets to share with others around him. Some days it is hard to watch him hand a book to the adults around him who aren´t quite sure of how to engage with him in it. But my heart is also calmed and content when he totes around his favorite Richard Scarry books and his Papá sits to read and talk about all the cool characters with him. 

I still believe no gift could replace a good book. But, is reading the absolute best gift we could give our kids? I have gone from country to country who would disagree.