Family Traditions with Books
1) When giving a book as a gift I always write on the inside cover. Put a note to the person and include your name and the date. Years later the book becomes much more meaningful.
2) To begin the Christmas season, possibly at the time you decorate your tree, present to your children a new Christmas book. Read it together and add it to your Christmas collection.
3) For an evening when the family is together, have a “Reading Hour”. Everyone chooses a book or gets the book they are currently reading. With everyone in the same room, quietly read together. Younger children can just look at picture books or have a parent read to them. Each person can tell why they like their book.
4) Choose one day of the week for this; half hour before dinner lay out some reference books, encyclopedias, text books, biographies or a dictionary. Have each person look through the books and find some interesting facts to share at dinnertime. You could call this day something special like:
§ mighty mind Monday
§ tell a truth Tuesday
§ wacky Wednesday wonders
§ think about it Thursday
§ find a fact Friday
5) On Christmas Eve the children get to open one present…it’s always a new book, just right for them!
6) Use this rhyme to introduce a new book or one you haven’t read for a while. Eventually the children will memorize it and say it with you.
Eenie meenie miney look, behind my back I have a book.
It might be new, it might be old, but there’s a wondrous story told.
So gather ‘round and you will see, what a friend a book can be.
7) I always have a room or section of the house that is our library or “book nook”. This is where most of your books would be stored. Make it a comfortable and relaxing place. (with no media around)
8) “World Readers Passport”… Usborne books sells these cool reading passports. They look almost like a real one, though bigger. As you read books from or about other countries you mark it in your passport.
9) Daddy’s Birthday Book Bash: This is a fun tradition where every year on Dad’s birthday each child will read to him a favorite picture book. Dad is so excited to hear each one!
10) Story Quilt… have a special quilt or blanket that you only use at story time. It can be used to sit on or to put over the reader and listeners.
11) Holiday books display: during the holidays that we have books for (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines day etc.) I always like to put the books out in a basket nearby so they get looked at and read more during that time.
12) Make trips to the library a fun family outing. Check out other kinds of libraries too, a law library, music library, university library, art library, medical library or a genealogical library.
13) Book Journal: This can be done individually or as a family. I do this with chapter books. We record the date, the book that was read and a line or two about the book and why we liked it. It’s really great to go back over the years and remember what was read.
14) Poem Night: There are wonderful books of poetry out there… for all ages. Poems have great educational qualities. Two or three times a year we pick a night for everyone to come together with a favorite poem to share. I display our poem books so the children remember what ones we have. Winter is my favorite time to do this.
15) “World Book Day” is always celebrated around the first of March. Check on line for the exact date and events taking place. This is a fun day to highlight some of your family’s favorite books and great excuse to add a new book to your home library!
16) Tales of Olden Times: I love this activity! This is when the family gets together to read about and learn some of their family history. We read excerpts from histories written by or about our ancestors. Get out all your family history books and genealogical records for the kids to see. Use an ancestor’s recipe for a treat afterwards.
17) Stories for the Season: These are stories that are told again and again at the same time each year. They become much-loved and everyone looks forward to hearing them once more. In most cases the tradition of telling that story will carry on to the next generations. For example; each Halloween we tell a fun story (flannel board) of a strange visitor that comes to the house in the woods. Just before Thanksgiving we get out our book that tells the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving and we remember our heritage and our blessings. There are many wonderful Christmas books that we read, but there are two that we always tell in a special way, The Story of the Other Wiseman and the story of The Nativity from the Bible. At Easter we recount the story of Christ’s death and resurrection, using large pictures and adapting it to the ages of the children. You can discover your own stories that will become a tradition in your family.
18) Book Buddies: This is when two or more people in your circle of family (or friends) is reading the same book at the same time! Many times if there was an exciting book in a series we were looking forward to, we would have to have two copies, one bought and one borrowed. This is fun to do because the two readers can then discuss the book as they go and get more from the story. Also, many times I would read a good book and then give it to my dad or mom to read and visa versa. Then we would discuss it.
Kristine K Butler
"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."
