Reading to Your Grandchildren

By: Kathy Roberts Source: AARP Foundation Date Posted:

What could be better? Snuggling down in a chair with a toddler as you giggle over a Dr. Seuss story? Traveling to the magic world of Harry Potter with your grandson at your side? Sharing an armchair trip to "Misty of Chincoteague" with your granddaughter? For me, it was my grandmother on the sofa helping me solve the Bobbsey twins' mysteries.

Educators talk about how a child's brain grows 90 percent during the first three years of life, how reading, singing, and telling stories help develop language and communications skills essential to success in school. Sure, those are benefits of reading with grandchildren. But the best is the love that you and your grandchild share when it's just the two of you and a book

Start Early, Stop Late

Even very young children enjoy being read to. My grandmother started reading Mother Goose to me long before I could talk. As I think back, I realize I didn't even know what most of the words meant. Her love was what I understood—and the funny voice that changed from squeaky to deep. That was 60 years ago, and I still remember.

After my daughter Sara was born, my grandmother advised me to start reading to her right away. She told me not to worry if Sara couldn't understand all the words. Funny faces and silly sounds would bring smiles of delight. She was right. "Baby Animals" taught Sara that a duck is yellow and says "quack, quack," and that pink pigs say "oink." We pointed at pictures and guessed what would happen next. Soon words just spilled out of Sara, and her imagination took off.

That brings up a related point. Just because grandchildren can read, doesn't mean they no longer want to be read to. The same things that make reading aloud so enjoyable for young grandchildren are equally appealing to older ones—the sound of your voice, the rhythm of your speech, your undivided attention, and an excuse to curl up next to you on the couch. Read to them as long as they want you to, which is probably a lot longer than you would have thought.

So Many Books to Choose From

Before sorting through the endless book suggestions available almost everywhere, I began with books my own children and I enjoyed. Although some of them are still popular, many are not. Nursery rhymes and fairy tales are often overlooked today. And while some fairy tales are indeed Grimm, Bruno Bettelheim, noted developmental psychologist, says, "More can be learned from fairy tales about the inner problems of human beings and of the right solutions to their predicaments than from any other type of story within a child's comprehension."

My own brother Dave's bond with our grandfather was firmly cemented during "Adventures of Tom Sawyer." Tom was their first mutual friend. Dave credits his adventures with Tom and Grandpa with teaching him to be curious and open to learning new things.

Going back to the books we enjoyed is no guarantee, however, that our grandchildren will share our enthusiasm. If they don't like the book, don't hesitate to find another one.

Rhyme and Repetition

Anyone who has ever read to a young child is familiar with the plea, "Read it again!" Be prepared to repeat a poem or story many times. Try to choose books whose first page doesn't make you wish you were already on the last page. (I read a few of those, but I learned quickly after that.)

For rhyme and repetition, Dr. Seuss is the master. His books for very young children are filled with repetition. "Hop on Pop" and "Red Fish, Blue Fish" are good examples, although I must admit to hoping Pop would hop out of my life after I read the story too many times. For older children, Seuss writes in rhyme, which is clever, lyrical, amusing, and a lot more appealing for adults.

There's a lot of great children's poetry, of course, from nursery rhymes to Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses," A. A. Milne's "When We Were Very Young" and "Now We are Six," and Maurice Sendak's "The Nutshell Library." Poet John Ciardi wrote children's poetry to get his children to read. Grandparents and grandchildren who read his poems together can only laugh at the characters and their dilemmas, recognizing them all too well.

Don't forget songs. I think "Itsy, Bitsy Spider" should be passed from grandparents to grandchildren for years to come—with all the giggles and hand motions that go with it. How else would I have learned what a "water spout" was?

Grandma and Grandpa Benefit, Too

Reading aloud gives us the opportunity to learn with our grandchildren, to travel with them to places around the globe and out of this world, to laugh, cry, and talk with them about so many things. Now that Sara has Katie, I have another chance to say goodnight to my old friend, Mr. Moon. And I look forward to Katie and me making new friends in books we'll discover together.

AARP Resources

Additional Resources

  • Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)
    Extensive reading lists, advice on choosing good books, tips on reading aloud, and ideas for reading-related activities.
  • American Library Association (ALA)
    Reading lists, reading-related Web sites for kids, and KidsConnect, an online research tool for K-12 students.
  • Read Across America
    Year-round reading event with a calendar of reading activities for every month of the year and reading lists ranging from teachers' top 100 books to celebrity book picks.

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