Included in the decorating for Christmas is gathering all of our Christmas books and placing them on the hearth. Before nap, for bedtime, or on a whelm, we can easily grab one of our favorite Christmas classics to read. (See a list of our favorite Christmas books.)
Yesterday, Little Man grabbed Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear to read. This darling paperback is the holiday sequel to the The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear.
Instead of simply reading the storyline, I am learning to pull more out of a book. We are diving deeper into the illustrations, pragmatics (emotions), and plot. And as we do it, the kids are learning so much more.
After reading the first two very concise sentences, Little Man said, “I wonder how the mouse is feeling in this picture?” Bingo! And so began a lengthy reading of this short book as we discussed pragmatics, facial expressions, gestures, and overall social language. We discussed fear, pride, shock, determination, sadness, kindness, and joy. It was awesome!
So much in such a little book!
And I would have missed it all had I hurried to get to the end. Praise God for the reminders to slow down.
Today, make a point to read a book with a kiddo in your life. I mean really read a book. Ask questions, discuss, enjoy. Afterward you will realize that the to-do list wasn’t quite as important as you thought.
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