Reading aloud to children

Raising Bookworms

How many parents look forward to the day when they no longer need to read bedtime stories to their children?

I didn't! And, thankfully, neither did my children. Both of them learned to read fluently at fairly young ages, but I continued reading to them at bedtime, as I had done since they were less than a year old. From a general education perspective, it seemed like a good way of introducing new concepts and vocabulary; but most importantly, it gave us a regular and cosy family time doing something relaxing together.

Once my children could read picture books to themselves, I started reading them longer story books with just a few line drawings. The 'Ramona series' by Beverley Cleary was one of the first, as well as 'Winnie-the-Pooh' books by AA Milne, Enid Blyton's 'Faraway Tree' series, and the 'Sophie' series by Dick King-Smith. Most of these have short chapters which are complete in themselves, rather than being part of a complex plot, so are appropriate for children of about four to six.

Starting chapter books

When it was clear that my sons were able to concentrate for a little longer, and able to wait for the rest of the story, we began on slightly longer books, where the chapters were not complete in themselves. Most of Dick King-Smith's books are of this type, and eminently suitable to be read aloud to children of about six to eight and older.

We also read some of Roald Dahl's books, and particularly enjoyed CS Lewis's 'Narnia' series, which chronologically begins with 'The Magician's Nephew' but - as the film-makers evidently decided - works best if you start with 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

Gradually we progressed through children's classics such as Kenneth Graham's 'The Wind in the Willows', Lewis Carrol's 'Alice in Wonderland', Michael Bond's 'Paddington' series, and JRR Tolkien's 'The Hobbit'. My children relaxed in other worlds as they listened to these stories.

They were books they would probably not have picked up by themselves, but which make excellent bedtime read-alouds. However, when I had read one of the books in a series to them, one or other of my sons would often decide to read more by the same author to himself.

Childhood favourite books

A year or two later, we decided to introduce the boys to our own childhood favourites. My husband began reading Arthur Ransome's 'Swallows and Amazons' series, about children in the mid 20th century who had adventures with sailing holidays. Then he started on the 'Biggles' series by Captain W E Johns.

I introduced the boys to Noel Streatfeild, whose books usually appeal to girls - but, read aloud, the boys found them equally enjoyable. I read them 'The Lord of the Rings' by JRR Tolkien (over a couple of months!), 'Anne of Green Gables' by LM Montgomery, 'The Little White Horse' by Elizabeth Goudge.

By this stage our sons were about 9 and 11, and even more often decided to read the rest of a series by themselves once we had introduced the first by reading aloud at bedtime.

Home education and reading aloud

When we started home educating, it provided a perfect opportunity for more reading aloud during the daytime. After all, in primary schools there is often time in the day when the teacher reads to the class. As the boys' bedtimes got later - sometimes later than mine! - I found that I was reading to them in the daytime far more often than in the evening, sometimes for an hour or more at a time if we got involved in the story and didn't want to put it down.

Some authors seem designed to be read aloud. Brian Jacques, who wrote the 'Redwall' series, remained popular for in our household over many years. And as we progressed to adult books, the PG Wodehouse 'Jeeves' series seemed perfect for reading aloud too, with the subtle humour that is so often missed when reading to oneself.

A few years later I read them Jermoe K Jerome's classic 'Three Men in a Boat', and Jane Austen's 'Northanger Abbey', prompting my younger son to read the rest of Jane Austen's books for himself. As they progressed through the teenage years I read some of Agatha Christie's popular crime novels, some of Georgette Heyer's less well-known detective novels, and every new Terry Pratchett 'Discworld' book that was published.

We never ran out of books to read aloud

Sometimes I wondered if we would run out of appropriate books, since the boys read vast amounts for themselves by this stage, and we have no local library here in Cyprus. But we kept on finding more authors, more books, more worlds. We talked sometimes about the books we read - the situations characters are in, the style of writing.

Occasionally we started something and decided it was too boring, or unsuitable in some way. So we stopped and try something else. I encouraged my sons to make their own decisions about their reading, and I am sure that in having so many books read aloud, they've been better able to develop an awareness of what makes a good book.

When my older son was five, in school in the UK and beginning to read for himself, he went through a traumatic phase when he suddenly didn't want to learn to read any more. He was worried that I would stop reading to him, if he could read for himself. I promised him that I would continue reading to him as long as he wanted - until he was fifteen, if he liked.

I had no expectation that he would still want me to read beyond the age of about eight or nine, but I often used to think of that promise. Perhaps if I hadn't made it, I would have encouraged my sons to give up their bedtime stories, but how glad I am that we continued for all those years!

Our reading aloud happened less often, inevitably, as the boys' lives became busier. But it remained a very important part of our life as a family, right up until January 2006 when my older son left home, aged 19, to work for two years on the ship MV Doulos.

Further reading about parenting and home education: