A family who reads together . . .

[JuggleDoug]

Do any of you read books out loud with your family (spouse, children, long lost uncle in Japan, whoever)?

If so, what do you read? How do you choose the book? When do you read? Any other ideas, thoughts, etc.

[Bakiryu]

I read children books to my mother so she will learn English. We then to choose books at a kinder-first grade level and read at night after she gets home from work.

[motherhubbard]

We read many many children’s books aloud. My husband reads "The Prydain Chronicles" aloud and does all of the voices. He read it to us first about nine years ago and we can't get enough.

[andave_ya]

My mom and I are the two bookworms in the family, so sometimes when I find something I really enjoyed I'll read it out to her.

[Adolescent09]

My mother will periodically read William J. Bennett's America:The Last Best Hope to me at five in the morning when I'm catching a quick siesta before beginning with my mainstream course of homeschool studies. All of my reading is self-read becase I find it very difficult to understand what other people read to me. I despise having a book being read to me which is why my mother reads to me in the morning to get me up in the first place. I find it difficult to concentrate on a hardcore classic or book with difficult principles if the context is being read aloud. My eyes have to glance over the page in order to interpret words at my own leisure.

[kandaurov]

Adol, likewise. I don't like to be read to. I take time to assimilate information (euphemism for 'slow'? :D), so I would have to keep saying 'slower!' 'stop!' 'can you go back a bit?' 'sorry, that truck got my attention for a second, what's that you said?' :p

I guess that when/if I become a father I'll read a lot to my kids aloud. But, for the time being, it's like Andya said, I only use to read aloud excerpts of books or articles that I find interesting.

[manolia]

The same for me..i can't concetrate easilly when someone reads to me. I must look at the text in order to understand something. It's a bit frustrating sometimes since i always ask information to be repeated in order to take it in. It seems that i am bit slow, too :lol: .

[symphony]

My sis sometimes reads stuff to me. And me too I often read out stuff to my sis, can be a novel, a short story, or an article I found interesting... But all of these must be in the not-too-tough-to-understand level :P , 'cuz neither of us like to be kept from the pleasure of digesting the contents, which is hard when one listens to the book instead of reading it thoroughly. All the great books are best enjoyed when read, that way u get the chance to scrutinise the areas u want to, to analyse, and to get a personal impression on the book. So I prefer to read the books that require contemplation myself.
This is also why I dont download audio-books, which are so popular noawadays and of which the web is currently full of.

But yes I've got to admit that reading out to the family is really a very pleasant thing to do, it gives out a warm feeling of intimacy between the family members. I often share interesting news articles, short stories, or things written by me :P , with my family members. What I usually do is call all of them together and make them settle down while I read something to them(I cant stand to be ignored when I'm reading something to someone :D ) and these moments of sharing really means a lot, I'm sure, to all of us.

[JuggleDoug]

We read many many children’s books aloud. My husband reads "The Prydain Chronicles" aloud and does all of the voices. He read it to us first about nine years ago and we can't get enough.

That's what we do, and I love doing voices!!!

I'm surprised so many people say they have trouble listening to books. Even with the books I "study" I think I learn more when I hear the words spoken . . . maybe I have an aural fixation??? ;)

[_Shannon_]

Mostly it's children's lit that we read aloud at our house. The oldest 4 kids share a room and listen to books on CD, too-- their favorites are The Hobbit, Eargon, The Railway Children, Little Women, and anything by Roald Dahl.

[motherhubbard]

Mostly it's children's lit that we read aloud at our house. The oldest 4 kids share a room and listen to books on CD, too-- their favorites are The Hobbit, Eargon, The Railway Children, Little Women, and anything by Roald Dahl.

I listen to books on CD as well. I can get more books in that way. One children's book on CD is "Hank the Cow Dog". The author reads the book and does all of the voices. He does a much better job than I would. My kids love it.

[_Shannon_]

I listen to books on CD as well. I can get more books in that way. One children's book on CD is "Hank the Cow Dog". The author reads the book and does all of the voices. He does a much better job than I would. My kids love it.

:thumbs_up We've checked those out before! Oddly- I cannot stand to listen to audio books!

[Annamariah]

My father used to read to me and my brothers when we were yonger. I remember him reading us the complete Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.

My father has told me that grandma read all the books by L. M. Montgomery and L. M. Alcott to him and his brother when they were children. Maybe they're not just "girls' books" after all :lol:

If I'll ever have children, I'll read as much to them as I can. I don't think I would read half as much as I now do, if I wasn't read to when I was a kid.

[Bakiryu]

Me too, when I was little my father used to narrate Gulliver's travel but he added more interesting stuff, I thought it was Little Purple riding hood 'til I first saw the book on a library at age 10!

[JuggleDoug]

Last night I was laying down on the living room floor reading on my stomach and my 11 month old son crawled over my book and handed me a book about baby faces. Then he turned and backed himself into my shoulder so our faces could be side by side as I read to him . . .

[grace86]

Last night I was laying down on the living room floor reading on my stomach and my 11 month old son crawled over my book and handed me a book about baby faces. Then he turned and backed himself into my shoulder so our faces could be side by side as I read to him . . .

Awwwww! That is so sweet!

I used to be read to all the time as a little girl. And I would read to my parents as well. More recently I read to my sister some fantasy books. Lately though, my sister and I will read to each other sections from the books we are currently reading that catch our interest...it's always nice to share a passage that makes you laugh.

[applepie]

I read every day to my two children. It is a time for us to all relax and enjoy spending a little relaxing time before bed. We read almost anything I can find. My son is only 4 and my daughter 9 months so they are young for anything too heavy. We read most classic fairy tales, Winnie the Pooh, Dr. Seuss, The Wind and the Willows, and much more. One of my son's favorite books is The Spider and the Fly. The poem is illustrated as a childrens book and he just loves it. It is great to listen to him starting the book as he whispers "Will you walk into my parlor said the spider to the fly". I just love that he is so interested in more classic tales. I'm looking to start reading The Chronicles of Narnia when he is old enough.

[lavendar1]

I was read to as a child, and I read to each of my four children. We still read, at least my younger two children and I -- especially in the summer, when we have more time. My youngest and I have read Shaw's Pygmalion and then watched My Fair Lady. I'm not sure what's on tap for this summer, but if she's interested, we may read Little Women. My youngest son and I have read Huckleberry Finn, and we're still working on Don Quixote, which we started last summer.