BOOKS, GLORIOUS BOOKS!

SERIOUSLY! I did this as a kid!

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Do you like to read? Do your kids?

I'm talking about books, not Facebook or Twitter or Tick Tok or blog posts or chat groups.

As a kid, my favorite day of the week was when the bookmobile pulled up in our neighborhood and I stretched my childish legs up the bus steps into that place of possibilities.

Yes, I read as a kid. Tons of books. Good books. Classics. Books with correct grammar and big words. Books that I held in my hands. Books that smelled of paper and glue and ink.

They stretched me. They took me places I could never go on my own. They exposed me to new ideas. They expanded my world. They challenged me to think for myself. They challenged me to change.

Movies kinda do the same things. Except not as well.

With books, you gotta imagine your own scenery and how the characters look and sound. Movies have already done most of the work for you. Not as mind-stretching. Books are better for your brain, in my humble opinion. (Audio books count, because you still have to use your imagination.)

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Get your kids some books. Require them to read for a certain length of time. Make them earn their digital activity privilege.

Get your children some books.

Good books.

Read those books to them.

Classics...like THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, and DEAR ZOO, and OVER IN THE MEADOW, and MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS, and BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL.

Then step up to HEIDI, and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, and THE EAGLE OF THE NINTH, and WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS, and AMOS FORTUNE - FREE MAN, and JOHNNY TREMAINE.

Then graduate to more difficult tomes like THE 39 STEPS, and BEOWOLF, and THE ODYSSEY. Yes, even when they are skilled readers, they will still enjoy your reading to them.

And always, always, every day, the Holy Bible - the best classic of all times.

Oh, the places you will go! Oh, the memories you will make sitting right there on that couch.

In troublesome days ahead, your child will think back to the comfort of leaning against your warm arm, hearing the excitement in your voice as you help her explore uncharted seas, caves and mountain sides. He will feel again the wonder of suddenly being transported to places hitherto unknown and awakening back on the the couch, disappointed that reading time is over. She'll remember the cadence and pitch of your voice, and know that you care about her.

What a wonderful gift to give your child to unwrap over and over in the days ahead.

P.S. I can furnish you with a list of our family's favorites. Just comment below.