I’d hate to admit it but I’m not much of a reader. When I was in school I’d watch movies that were based on the books we had an assignment for instead of reading the book. I just wasn’t into books.

Bryce had a presentation at school about the importance of reading and how Reading Rocks! It motivated me to read more for Bryce. He doesn’t know how to read, at least, I don’t think he does. Throughout all the school years we had worked on letters, colours, shapes, and just this year, teaching him how to print his name. But reading wasn’t something we’d focus too much on.

In 2004, my dad purchased The Vancouver Sun 32 Classic Children’s Book Collection for Bryce. For the longest time, I always considered the collection as just a great investment to own, not even read, but just to own, because of the amount of history behind the incredible tales. But ever since my dad passed away, Daniel began to read them to Bryce. Daniel reads Bryce a chapter almost every night as part of Bryce’s bedtime routine. They’re currently on the 5th book of the series, Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.

I encourage you to read to your child, or have your child read a book, at least once a day to help enhance their personality. And it doesn’t even matter what you’re reading, just as long as you are reading! “Reading is to your mind what exercise is to your body or what food is to your stomach.”

I will definitely be reading more to Bryce throughout this summer, and even get a library card for him. Tell us what your child’s favourite books are, or what your favourite books were as a child and we’ll check them out!

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya

Here’s some great suggestions for book readers of all ages:

Preschool Favourites
Bob the Builder, Clifford, Sesame Street, Spot

Young Readers
Arthur, Berenstein Bears, Baby Sitters' Club, Eric Carle, I Spy, Jan Brett, Robert Munsch

Older Readers
Bailey School Kids, Captain Underpants, Gordon Korman, Harry Potter, Junie B. Jones, Lemony Snicket, Magic School Bus, Magic Tree House, Redwall Abbey, Robin Jarvis, Roman Mysteries

The Vancouver Sun Classic Children’s Book Collection
1 - The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
2 - The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
3 - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
4 - Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
5 - Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
6 - The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
7 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
8 - Peter Pan by James Mathew Barrie
9 - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
10 - Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm
11 - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
12 - 20000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
13 - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
14 - Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
15 - Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
16 - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
17 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Lyman Frank Baum
18 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
19 - The Story of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
20 - The Borrowers by Mary Norton
21 - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
22 - Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
23 - The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père
24 - Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
25 - Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
26 - The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
27 - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
28 - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
29 - The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
30 - Bedknobs and Broomsticks by Mary Norton
31 - Ivanhoe by Walter Scott
32 - Moby-Dick by Herman Melville