January 1, the golden promise of a new year. What will it bring? What about starting a new first day of the year tradition for your family? Amy Dickinson at the Chicago Tribune asked her readers in December 2010 to celebrate the holiday season by giving a book to a child. She called her campaign “A Book on Every Bed.”
This is how it works:
Take a book. Gift wrap it. Place it on a child’s bed so it is the first thing the child sees in the morning. That’s it.
What a way to start the New Year! The child wakes up and unwraps the book. He/she turns the pages and pores over the illustrations. The parent comes in and reads the book aloud to the child. What a special moment. What a beautiful way to start a new year.
A child’s love of reading grows as he/she is surrounded by books. Books make you smart. They grow your vocabulary. They keep you from being lonely. They take you on journeys to far-away places, and deep into your mind. They provide heroes and ideas, information and imagination. Literacy begins early. Mothers read books to their own bellies when pregnant and to toddlers in the tub. Reading books aloud makes a cozy together time just before sleep and a way to pass the time in the doctor’s office.
Less than half of young children in the US are read to regularly, according to organizations that research literacy, and many American families have no children’s books in the home. Yet, children who are read to, have a leg-up in life. They develop a love of reading and a vital life skill.
Pulitzer Prize-winner David McCullough received a wrapped book every Christmas throughout his childhood, left by Santa at the foot of his bed. “I think my love of books began on Christmas mornings long ago and the love has never gone stale.”
Start your own tradition. Wrap a book and place it at the foot of your child’s bed on the eve of any special day – Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, birthdays, Halloween, etc. The book may relate to the holiday or may be a classic that your child will grow to love. The books you choose will grow with your child – picture books to chapter books, fiction and non-fiction. Read part or all of each book aloud together. Create your own special memories. Spread your own love of reading to the children in your life. If you are a teacher or a librarian, suggest the “Book on Every Bed” campaign to the parents you know.
One of my favorite songs is by an unknown composer with these lyrics:
“Papa, won’t you read to me as I sit on your knee?
I’m a sleepy head but before I go to bed,
Let’s take a look at a story book and see what we can see.
A nursery rhyme or a fairy tale, oh Papa won’t you read to me?
Far richer than gold I will always be
For I had a parent who read to me.
Yes, richer than gold I will always be.
Oh Papa won’t you read to me?”
