Reading habits

I recently mentioned that we've begun reading "Mr. Popper's Penguins" to Isaac, and that made me realize that I haven't written much about Isaac's reading habits. He still loves listening to books, and he increasingly enjoys looking at books on his own, but he doesn't ask us to read to him as much as he once did. Unless we have an exciting new book or magazine for him, he's usually content to wait for his two regularly-scheduled reading times -- right before nap/quiet playtime, and right before bed.

Isaac likes variety in his reading material, which I why I avoid buying him books. He'll be intensely interested in a book or magazine for a week or so, asking us to read it over and over, and then he'll completely lose interest. When I worked at the library, I used to bring new books home every week, which was perfect for Isaac. But since Laurel was born over two months ago, we've probably only checked out new books four or five times. However, now we all go to the library together, and he gets to be involved with the selection of his own books, which is fun.

What does Isaac love to read the most? That's probably a topic for another post, but he's a big fan of nonfiction. A recent surprise favorite is "The Top Job" by Kimmel, the fictionalized account of a man whose job it is to replace the light bulb atop the Empire State Building! Isaac doesn't really get a lot of the references (skyscrapers, UFOs, King Kong, catcher's mitts) but he wants to read it over and over again, perhaps seeking to understand.

He has also begun pretending to read, and he does this in two different ways. During quiet playtime, when there's no one else around, he reads to himself by looking at the pictures of children's books. Sometimes I overhear him reciting a favorite memorized line or two (like you monkeys you! from "Caps for Sale"), but mostly he looks at the books quietly.

But sometimes he announces he is going to read to me. In this case he chooses one of my books from my nightstand, then sits in my bed and turns its pages while he makes up a completely random story.

Over the past month or two, these made-up stories have often been about vehicles. One was about the comparative weight of vehicles (sample: "The bucket of a backhoe weighs 100 pounds!"). Another was about the relative value of vehicles (sample: "The dump truck is the most important vehicle in the whole world!"). But one made-up story was about friendship. Every page read "Once there was a [insert different type of animal] that had five friends." The animals and their friends never amounted to anything -- Isaac isn't big on plot, I guess -- but I thought it was a hopeful sign after so much machinery.

Strangely, he refuses to "read" me any children's books, even though he must have many of them memorized. When I suggest he try to retell a familiar story, he tells me rather scornfully that he doesn't know how to read.

He's getting there, though. A few weeks ago we were examining the remote control to his CD player, and out of nowhere he said, "This button must mean stop -- it has an S." And he recently argued with Craig and me about the pronunciation of the word "mist," which he wanted to pronounce as "miss." After we finally convinced him that it ended with a tuh sound, he said, "Well, there must be an S before the T," which I found shocking because we hadn't told him what the names of the letters were.

He has just recently begun pretending to write actual words, and even though he uses blotches and lines in place of letters, it is still very exciting. A girl in his playgroup who is just a few months older than him (she'll be four in July) can write her name (as well as draw people with heads and faces), but she goes to an "academic" preschool where I think they actively push such things. Her family and several others we know have begun labeling items in their houses (pantry, mirror, train table, etc.) so the kids are surrounded by words.

I figure Isaac is already surrounded by words. When he wants to learn how to read, he'll ask.