Posts Tagged ‘Children’s Books’
Recently, Diane Rehm (radio talk show host on NPR, my local station is WAMU) conducted an excellent interview with Robert Darnton about his new book “The Case for Books.” Darnton, Librarian at Harvard, has done extensive studies on the history of books (or, as he said in french “L’histoire du livre”) and has written this book to discuss the importance of accepting the changes, but not changing everything.
The digital era and accessibility of information is altering the way we read and the formats in which we acquire reading materials. All of this is going to take come getting used to, but most of these advances are good.
The Children’s Book, however, is a different story. I have strong emotional memory of my grandmother reading to me…Charlotte’s Web, Ferdinand the Bull, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and so many others. The experience of sitting in comfort, loved and cared for, while a beloved adult reads (or SINGS!) a picture book or classic story is an enchanting and formative experience for a child. You can’t make an electronic file out of that!
I have discovered, through hundreds of gatherings singing to kids, that each singable book is a treasure. The physical book represents the experience of sharing and imagination. The book itself becomes a memory…the pages, the pictures, the smell, the story, words and music. And, like a talisman, the book absorbs the joy and love of each sharing and develops a shimmer of magic.
I holler out praises for the Children’s Book. I hope that people will forever hold BOOKS, gather up children, and share the wonderful experience of reading and singing stories with pictures.
