All the Things

A blog by Holly Papa.

Ode to Reading Grandparents

by | Nov 2, 2008 | Blog | 13 comments

Grandma O Reading Harry Potter

Reading is an important skill and helping children develop a love of the printed word often is a family affair. Part of why we love reading so much also has to do with our grandparents reading to our parents and taking them to the library. So we thought we’d give a thank you to our grandparents (who also let us eat lots of ice-cream).

Grandpa O Reading 1776

Grandparents B and Grandparents O read to us as children and certainly instilled within our parents a love of reading. Also one of the benefits of developing life long reading is a healthy brain. It’s one of the best ways to exercise your brain especially as you grow older. Let me just say I love exercising my brain this way!

The other benefit is you can talk to your grandkids about the books you are reading. In fact Grandma O likes to read young adult fiction and read the entire Harry Potter series. One of her main reasons is its fun, but she particularly enjoys being able to discuss the books with her grandchildren. She just recently finished the 3rd book Brisingr in the Inheritance Series by Christopher Paolini.

Grandpa B

Both Holly and I remember reading The Cat in the Hat at our grandparents B house. They had a lot of books to choose from and even though Grandpa B can’t see as well as he used to he uses a special machine for the blind to read books to him.

We have lots of memories of reading and lots of postitive memories which is so important in fostering a love of reading for children. How are you fostering a love of reading with children and people you know?

13 Comments

  1. hollybookscoops

    I’m so glad that reading is something you can pass on- with or without DNA. I enjoy reading with my children minus the lap space/I can’t see squabbles. I hope that some day my children will read to their children and you better bet I plan on reading to my grandkids and giving them some fun books!

    Sometimes my kids aren’t so thrilled about reading books with Mom, but we made a tent out of blankets, chairs and the cardtable last weekend to inspire them to read with me. Granted, by the middle of the session we had to call intermission to put the baby down for a nap after he pulled the fort down and made his siblings mad (it was actually nicer with no blankets blocking the light to read by). But, we had a good time. Snuggles and reading are a great combination anytime. Combine them with a fort and it’s magical!

    Reply
  2. hollybookscoops

    Oh and by the way, thanks Grandparents- and I mean all of you! We really appreciate the time you spent giving us good things to read (I remember G. Gma Whitman used to give us a subscription to National Geographic every year for Christmas- now that was some serious reading!

    I know I appreciate the time that Grandparents spent reading with me and I love to see my children reading with their grandparents!

    Reply
  3. caribookscoops

    holly you are so creative in how you encourage your boys to read. I would never of thought reading in a tent made out of blankets, but is sure sounds fun.

    I like to give books as gifts especially childrens books.

    Reply
  4. Sherpa

    FYI-I’m stealing the pic of your Grandpa Buhler for my blog

    Reply
  5. Renae

    I love your Book Scoops and will forward the address to my daughters-in-law! I consider myself a reading grandma, and I am enjoying the reading ages of my 9 grandchildren. Looking at pictures with the babies, reading and pointing along with the toddlers, and discussing books with the grade school kidlets is the best!

    Renae

    Reply
  6. Lisa O

    Cari and Holly, you ladies are my heroes! When it comes to book recommendations there is no one I trust more than you two. The books my boys have received from you as gifts are always our favorites. Thanks to Holly, Myles and I could right now quote the entire story of “Danny and the Dinosaur.”

    I love that Grandpa O is reading David McCullough’s, 1776 in this photo. A few months ago during a visit with Grandpa he told me how much he enjoyed the book, then insisted that I take it home with me to read too- promising that he knew I would enjoy it as much as he did. He was excited about it and wanted to pass along a good thing!

    Thanks again for getting a great thing going. I’ll be checking back often!

    Lisa

    Reply
  7. caribookscoops

    Renae – Glad you like the blog. I think grandparents are awesome.

    Lisa O – I love that story about Grandpa O. Thanks for sharing. Danny and the Dinosaur is one of my favorites and I don’t see very often at the library.

    Reply
  8. Jen Robinson

    This is a great post, Cari. I owe part of my love of books to my grandmother Robinson. She ran the library at her church, and I used to help her there. And she was an adult who never stopped enjoying children’s books. Some of my most treasured books were ones that I learned about from her. Thanks for this reminder.

    Reply
  9. caribookscoops

    Thanks Jen! I think creating life-long readers requires lots of people and grandparents can be instrumental in that process. I am so glad that I have grandparents who read.

    Reply
  10. Cindy O'Neil

    I, too, loved the tribute to reading grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Whitman were avid readers. I remember getting out of the car and walking into their home on Jefferson Street in Montpelier and Grandpa Whitman was often sitting in the chair reading.

    Mom Buhler read often to us as children. I remember that she read a book to us called Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians. She often read to us on our many car trips. She read Thoreau’s Walden Pond to us as we traveled in the car. She often read Reader’s Digest articles to us in the car also.

    Dad Buhler was more likely to recite poetry to us in the car or tell us stories or help us learn the Morse Code. One of the stories he told us was that he took a dictionary with him to herd sheep one summer and that was his reading material that summer.

    Reply
  11. caribookscoops

    That was lovely. Thanks for sharing, I didn’t know that about them. I am seeing lots of great ways to share the love of reading with children especially by example and reading outloud. Fun stuff, lovely memories.

    Reply
  12. bestbookihavenotread

    I have great memories of sharing books with my grandparents! I still remember my favorite book I would get my grandma to read to me-Pokey Little Puppy! No one could read it as well as she could!

    Reply
  13. caribookscoops

    bestbookihavenotread – I love hearing stories of grandparents and reading. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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