Emily Reads!

Up to this point, I must admit I've been a bit disappointed at Emily's lack of interest in all things literary.  I see other friends with babies her age that say their kids love to read.  Emily just likes to turn the pages to get to the end of the book as quickly as possible so that, sooner than later, she can get down and move on to the next thing.  It's a means to an end.  Being a children's librarian, it made me completely question myself as both a parent and bibliophile.  What had I done wrong?  Would my child never love books the way I do?  Would my MS in Library Science be revoked? 

A couple weeks ago she began to show a little bit of interest in dear Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  I'm quite sure she cared more about the funny little graduated-size pages and the holes through which she could stick her fingers (Bravo, Mr. Carle) than the story itself, but that's beside the point.  That beloved little Caterpillar got her at least somewhat book curious. 

On Friday, October 5th, I believe we made a real breakthrough.  The day before, I read her Dan Yaccarino's version of Five Little Pumpkins and she seemed to really enjoy it.  It has a great rhyme scheme and cute colorful pictures.  Also, Dan Yaccarino is the artist who created the Backyardigans characters, who Emily absolutely loves.  I think she may see a resemblance between pumpkin number five and Pablo. :)  So anyway, last Friday she went to her book basket, pulled out Five Little Pumpkins, carried it to her daddy, and sat down in his lap.  Finally!  She wanted to read!  Since that day, we have probably read Five Little Pumpkins 25 times.  Such a sweet and fun milestone for this book-loving mama.