Thank you for reading to your children.
Sitting on the couch and reading aloud with our children cuddled around me long ago or now with our grandchildren cuddled around are some of my fondest memories. Reading aloud is one of the best ways I know to teach children. Thank you for reading to your children.
My Reading Mother
By American writer Strickland Gilliland (1869-1954)
I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;
“Blackbirds” stowed in the hold beneath.
I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.
I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness lent with his final breath.
I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings–
Stories that stir with an upward touch.
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be–
I had a Mother who read to me.
“Oh, that each mother of boys [and girls] were such” mothers as you are!
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
Psalm 131:2
