Mama, let’s read two stories!
“Mama, let’s read two stories!”
This is a familiar refrain from my 4 year old, Z who insists on a picture book read aloud every night before going to bed. He dislikes going to bed. So he tries to prolong his waking hours by insisting we read at least two stories. In these nightly rituals which mark the close of yet another day, Z sees and says unexpected things, opening for me a small window into the world of how children learn to read. He often doesn’t respond to pictures as I expect him to but he listens carefully as he is later able to retrieve new information to make connections with his own lived world. In our shared reading of picture books, I realize I’m doing much more than narrating a single story to him. I’m opening up possibilities of endless connections and multiple stories f...