Read To Your Children . . .This book will help you do that!

Classics to Read Aloud to Your Children
William F. Russell
ISBN: 0-51758715-7
$9.00

Basically, I bought this book some time ago because there were some literary classic that I hadn’t read yet. It caught my eye in the bookstore and I felt that maybe this book would help me capture the gist of those stories. (Or maybe I simply bought it for my inner child, who was curious about these stories, and knew I wasn’t going to have time to read them in their entirety.)

Through the years, I’ve read such stories as THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE by Stephen Crane, THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain, and THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London.

But there were those Classics I haven’t read yet, such as the King Arthur legends, some of which are contained in this book, one of them being HOW ARTHUR WAS CROWNED KING by Sir Thomas Malory. Or even stories like THE ADVENTURES OF THE WINDMILLS from Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes, among others.

This book contains a poetry section of which you will find PAUL REVERE'S RIDE, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, by Alfred Lloyd Tennyson, CASEY AT THE BAT, by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, to name a few.

At least for me I regarded this book as a kind of Cliff Notes. Although I wouldn’t use this as replacement for reading these works of literature (and hope to one day read them in their entirety), it did allow me to become familiar with the stories in and of themselves. But the main use of this book is to read aloud these stories, myths, legends and poems to children from ages five to twelve years old.

What I liked about this book is that parents can be entertained as well as the child who is being read to. You won’t find yourself reading the same nursery rhymes or fairy tale over and over.

One excellent point brought up in this book is that children who have a good command of the English language go on to do better in all areas of learning. Children who are exposed to literature early in life go on to appreciate good literature later in life. Children who are read aloud to early go on to enjoy reading, and consequently do better in life as a whole. I think this is a given.

You can’t learn math if you can’t understand the words that will tell you how to solve that math problem. In fact there’s not much in life anyone can learn to do without comprehending fully those instructions that tell you “how to do them.” This is also a given. Learning to read in my "opinion" is essential in all developments, i.e. emotional, psychological, and yes even physical.

Enjoyment by children found in the act of reading will only facilitate this process.

This book emphasizes the point that “reading aloud to children should not be the responsibility of one parent alone.” Because it is recommended here that both parents take up this responsibility, in that the child does not associate “reading” with only one parent. Particularly with regard to poetry for it is recommended those fathers or whatever male figure that is part of a child’s life also read aloud to the child the poems found in the poetry section. In this way the child won’t think that poetry is specifically a feminine-oriented activity.

Because how many of us can really picture our fathers reading poetry? I have to be the first to admit that I could not picture my father reading poetry nor any of the classics. Many of the men in his generation simply didn’t do this. I would also have to be the first to admit that I’ve considered poetry a “feminine oriented” activity.

By having fathers read poetry to their children this is one way to avoid that kind of stereotyping. Those children read to will be more willing to choose for themselves what they want to read later on in life and what they truly enjoy whether that be poetry or prose, and without being afraid they will be considered a wimp or a “mama’s” boy.

This book provides a mini synopsis at the beginning of each story. Then an approximate reading time on how long it will take to read that story is also given. This will allow a parent to judge the time available. Reading through the book I noticed some stories might take nine minutes, while others only five minutes. ANDROCLES AND THE LION from Aesop’s Fables is five minutes. THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN could take sixteen or more.

The book is separated into three sections of reading levels: Level one for five and up, Level II for ages eight and up, and level III for twelve and up.

There is also a section of holiday favorites such as: “PHAROAH of the HARD HEART” from Exodus for Passover; “THE RISEN LORD” from the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John for Easter; “THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW” by Washington Irving for Halloween; and “THE GIFT OF THE MAGI” by O’Henry (a favorite of mine) for Christmas.

This book is such a wonderful tool to use not only to encourage the love of reading in children, but also to further create and establish a bond between parents, guardians, grandparents, and others with their children.

I cannot wait to share this book with my granddaughter when she comes over. Actually I will probably give it to her so she can take it to her mom or dad whenever she wants someone to read to her, which I have a feeling will be quite often.

One additional point, I think using this book in an adult literacy program would even benefit those adults learning how to read.


A great book to keep on anyone's bookshelf.