From: Itsillustration at aol.com <Itsillustration>
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 23:17:23 EDT

I can't see how reading aloud to ANY age could be offensive. As I recall, every year during elementary school, my teachers would take a half-hour out of the day to read to the class. In college, one of my teachers read aloud several picture books (it was a children's book writing class, of course). To be honest, I spaced out through half of the PB reading in college (pathetic as that may be!) and only absorbed a fraction of the novels read in elementary school
(obviously I have trouble paying attention)... but still, some of it was absorbed. A child isn't going to die because they have to listen to a book that they've already read. Perhaps they can catch parts that they had missed and gain a new understanding of the prose and how it is put together ... perhaps hearing a book read aloud will spawn future creativity!

I HATED reading in my younger years. The only thing that saved me were the
"read-alouds." I loved it when my mother read to "us kids." Roald Dahl is great one for the reluctant reader (in my opinion). Anyone heard of So Far From the Bamboo Grove? I loved that as a child--I should reread it now that I'm in my adult years.

I think it's a great idea to allow children to "occupy their hands" during story-time. I know that I always sat still and paid attention better when I had something mindless to do, such as doodling.

About the Mary Kate and Ashley series: sadly, they fly off the bookshelves where I work (B&N) ... Actually, anything to do with the movies or TV. What's great but sad at the same time is when a movie is made from a book and that movie gets kids to read it (not to go off on a new tangent).

meghan mccarthy (new to the list)
Received on Wed 25 Aug 2004 10:17:23 PM CDT