The power of reading

Sisters Janice (left), 8, and Marion Martres, 3, read together on the girls' bed in their Monroe home Wednesday afternoon. Janice is a voracious reader, and her little sister — though not actually able to read alone yet — appears happy to follow suit. The girls' parents, Gus and Bernadine Martres, urge the girls to read as much as possible. Boxes of books have been placed in nearly every room in the house to encourage the activity.

Reading regularly to children provides benefits beyond expanding vocabulary

BY CYNTHIA RAMNARACE

Evening News staff writer

There is something about hearing a story read aloud that has the power to transfix a child.

Jadin Howton, who runs playgroups and LapTots programs at the Dorsch Memorial branch of the Monroe County Library System, has seen fussy babies calmed by the rhythmic cadence of a nursery rhyme. She has stood before groups of middle school students and kept their attention with an inspiring tale.

"Reading is not a passive activity," Mrs. Howton said. "You have to engage the audience. That's what the author is supposed to do. My job is to find a book I can engage the audience with. Either a 2-week-old baby or 75 middle school kids, there's a book that can engage the audience."

Michael Hall of Monroe wasn't sure at first that reading to his 3-year-old daughter, Jazmyn, was having any effect. It didn't seem like she was listening. She wouldn't sit on his lap while he read and instead would often be running around the room as her father repeated the rhymes of Dr. Seuss.

He told Mrs. Howton his problem. She urged him to read anyway. He did. And he noticed that if he stopped midway in "Green Eggs and Ham," Jazmyn picked up where he left off, reciting the next line. Then there were other seemingly miraculous changes.

"After reading to her, her vocabulary started picking up," Mr. Hall said. "She was talking in more complete sentences."

Mr. Hall was now a reading convert, like many other parents who marvel at how the simple act of reading can incite the imagination and ignite a love of language that lasts a lifetime.

Gus and Bernadine Martres' Monroe home is filled with books. Mrs. Martres often reads to the children throughout the day and enjoys the chance to cuddle and bond with her daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Martres are avid readers themselves and the family often has reading times at night, when everyone brings a favorite book and reads silently together. It sets a positive example.

"My daughter knows I'm doing important reading," Mrs. Martres said, "and she comes and pretend reads along with me."

Mrs. Martres, a former kindergarten teacher, likes to choose books for her daughters, Janice, 8, and Marion, 3, that help them to express their emotions. "Cinderella" is their favorite book, probably because they can relate to the sibling rivalry. The girls play-act scenes from the book, taking turns being different characters and playing dress-up.

"I found a book about anger, and it let them know it is okay to get angry," Mrs. Martres said. "And now the sisters have a better relationship."

Mrs. Howton said she often has parents ask her to recommend a book to help children get through a particularly stressful situation, such as the birth of a new sibling. Brenda Bressler of Monroe borrowed "Farley Goes to the Doctor" from the library before her daughter, Erin, 2, got her flu shot.

"It worked wonderfully," she said.

Carlene Naughton of Monroe has three boys: Benjamin, 4, Pierce, 2, and Ian, 3 months. Because of his age, she has seen the greatest benefit in Benjamin. He can play by himself, asks intelligent questions and loves to make up his own stories based on the books read to him.

"Benjamin and Pierce took the Richard Scarry books and on their own came up with a game called Scarrytown," Mrs. Naughton said. "They have a re-enactment. They play with the characters."

When Mrs. Naughton asks the older boys for help in calming Ian down, the boys bring a book and read to him. Seeing this helps her feel she is fulfilling one of her goals for her children. She wants them to be readers.

"I want my kids to understand that reading is for boys," she said. "My husband is a reader, and that helps."

Mrs. Howton of Dorsch library tells parents to start reading to children from the day they are born and don't stop until they leave home. Yes, she says, teenagers can also enjoy being read to.

"When my children were little, every night we'd go in my room and I'd read to them," Mrs. Howton said. "I remember reading ‘Superfudge' by Judy Blume. We were laughing so hard that my husband came to see what was going on. Pretty soon all five of us were on the bed reading. Even adults love to be read to. My husband and I will still read out loud to each other. It's a sharing. It's interactive."

It's also a great way to stimulate a child's brain development. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, babies develop language skills by hearing the spoken word.

They begin to understand the written word when parents read to them, or they hear parents read aloud from their own books or newspapers.

A baby may not understand what is being read, but he is soothed by the sound of a parent's voice.

"I think the person you read to and you form a bond," Mrs. Howton said.