Describe your most ideal day from beginning to end.
My ideal day from start to finish–or at least one type of an ideal day–involves reading. More specifically, it involves reading books out loud. What is it about reading out loud that makes it ideal? For one thing, it’s fun. Another is the visceral experience of enlivening a story’s tone and direction. A perfect example includes beginning the day by reading to different groups of kids at a school or library and concluding it by reading to my kids before their bedtime. Thus, reading aloud can make for a captivating day.
I’m a fan of children’s story time and have enjoyed my stint of several years as a mystery reader at my kids’ school. It’s something I’ve considered a rewarding experience as a parent and someone who enjoys reading and writing. It’s indeed a pastime that fosters an appreciation of printed words that culminates into a form of interpersonal engagement through a spoken narrative. Through this spoken narrative, any of us are positioned to facilitate our personal growth around imagination, critical thinking, and creating social connections. In children, the spoken narrative of a book story not only furthers their literary prowess but also strengthens vocabulary, attention span, and comprehension, among other cognitive abilities. (See Reading Eggs and Carnegie Learning to learn more about reading aloud to children.)
With all the attention given these days to handheld, mobile devices and what arguably could be classified as addictive behaviors when perusing online content on demand–a behavior I’m guilty of–there’s suddenly something unique to appreciate about the old-fashioned book. If it’s a book that could be shared aloud, all the better. After all, why do book authors find themselves in the company of fans at a book signing eager to hear them read a passage from their newly published work that their audience very well can do on their own?
Creatively printed words on an ordered stack of paper bound together provide a welcomed departure from the ubiquitous, hurried, and heavily-mobile-device-dependent lifestyle of our modern time. Sharing the love of reading a book the old-fashioned way with members of a book club or a group of students during the reading circle, especially aloud, creates a priceless experience that stays with us for a lifetime. If our device happens to be the source of our literary enjoyment, let’s set apart those moments to mirror the pleasure that comes from reading a physical book aloud.
I invite you to read my most recent 100-word prose on the subject. It’s a short, descriptive narrative about what delights me about reading aloud. It also pays homage to World Read Aloud Day, which is being observed today. Enjoy!
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