Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Indie Pen-Dance Wednesday - A great guest post from one of the creators of "The Girl / The Boy Who Lost her / His Name"
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| Scrumptious stories and a name book with a difference! The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name |
Today for our Indie Pen-Dance Wednesday we're featuring a guest post from David Cadji-Newby from "lostmy.name" - genius creators of a name book with a difference.
You can check out our review of "The Girl Who Lost Her name" but now it's over to David to tell us a little bit about what reading with his son means to him.
"OH GOD NO NOT THAT BOOK AGAIN!"
I don’t know about you, but for me, there was this one book. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good book. One of the best. I remember enjoying it the first, ooh, twenty times I read it to Elias. But every night?
‘What book would you like?’ I’d say.
‘This one.’
‘Right... Sure?’
‘Yes.’
‘You wouldn’t prefer this one? It’s got great pictures.’
‘No.’
‘This one? Look, it’s got pop-up, um, thingies.’
‘No.’
I ended up sounding like a desperate call centre worker trying to hawk double glazing. And it never worked. He wanted that book. And I had to read it to him, otherwise I’d be a bad dad.
So I had to come up with strategies, to get through it. Do silly voices, that was one. Really start interrogating the stories, look for subtext.
‘What do you think that gorilla’s motivation is?’
‘What?’
‘Why has he nicked the bananas?’
‘Oh. Because he was hungry?’
‘Awesome.’
But here’s the thing. The older and more familiar the book got, the more I had to interact with Elias to get through it. And looking back, we talked so much and learned so much together, that it was more than worth it. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Bedtime stories are on the wane. Parents are reading less with their children. Kids are spending more time in front of screens. Which we think is a shame. Reading a story with a child is such a magical thing. And it’s over so quickly. Too quickly.
Now, Elias reads on his own. And he’ll come out with things like, ‘Did you know the Roman god of the sea is called Neptune?’ And I’ll say, ‘How do you know that?’ ‘Oh, I read it,’ he’ll say. And while I’ll be proud of him for knowing it, and impressed by his reading (he’s only seven after all), a part of me will still wish that maybe we could have discovered it together. Even if it was in a book we’d read together, like, a gazillion times.
"OH GOD NO NOT THAT BOOK AGAIN!"
I don’t know about you, but for me, there was this one book. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good book. One of the best. I remember enjoying it the first, ooh, twenty times I read it to Elias. But every night?
‘What book would you like?’ I’d say.
‘This one.’
‘Right... Sure?’
‘Yes.’
‘You wouldn’t prefer this one? It’s got great pictures.’
‘No.’
‘This one? Look, it’s got pop-up, um, thingies.’
‘No.’
I ended up sounding like a desperate call centre worker trying to hawk double glazing. And it never worked. He wanted that book. And I had to read it to him, otherwise I’d be a bad dad.
So I had to come up with strategies, to get through it. Do silly voices, that was one. Really start interrogating the stories, look for subtext.
‘What do you think that gorilla’s motivation is?’
‘What?’
‘Why has he nicked the bananas?’
‘Oh. Because he was hungry?’
‘Awesome.’
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| Hippos can help with a letter. Guess which one! |
But here’s the thing. The older and more familiar the book got, the more I had to interact with Elias to get through it. And looking back, we talked so much and learned so much together, that it was more than worth it. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Bedtime stories are on the wane. Parents are reading less with their children. Kids are spending more time in front of screens. Which we think is a shame. Reading a story with a child is such a magical thing. And it’s over so quickly. Too quickly.
 |
| By gad, it's a B! |
Now, Elias reads on his own. And he’ll come out with things like, ‘Did you know the Roman god of the sea is called Neptune?’ And I’ll say, ‘How do you know that?’ ‘Oh, I read it,’ he’ll say. And while I’ll be proud of him for knowing it, and impressed by his reading (he’s only seven after all), a part of me will still wish that maybe we could have discovered it together. Even if it was in a book we’d read together, like, a gazillion times.
(Our thanks to David for a brilliantly funny post. Don't forget, your own "lostmy.name" journey is waiting for you at the "lostmy.name" website! Create something uber special today!)
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