“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!”
The Three Little Pigs
I took my three-year-old grandson, Elijah, for his first trip to the used book store in Fenton the other day, introducing him to the joy of finding books to read. He was delighted with his finds, walking out with three children’s books, including one about Batman, his favorite super-hero. He also found one from the “Froggy” book series, which were my other grandson’s favorite books to read when he was little (Froggy Goes to School, Froggy Plays Soccer, Froggy Goes to Bed, etc.). I would read them to him over and over again.
When Elijah had to go the hospital last summer to have a splinter removed from his foot, I kept his mind off the pain by letting him watch a video of The Three Little Pigs on my cell phone. He was so fascinated by the Big Bad Wolf, I decided to give him the book this past Christmas, which I have since read to him many times. “Not by the hair of my chinny, chin chin!” I would read in my deepest voice as he squealed with laughter.
Prior to the Big Bad Wolf, Elijah’s obsession was dinosaurs. I gave him a sticker book abut the history of dinosaurs, which he spent hours and hours finding the matching spaces to place the stickers. He learned a lot about dinosaurs in the process – his favorite, of course, is T-Rex.
April 2 is International Children’s Book Day, which encourages reading and promotes the love of books for children. They say that the best and fastest way to develop our young children into intelligent human beings is by teaching them to read. Instilling a love of reading promotes a lifetime of learning and enjoyment.
Reading has been a big part of all of my grandchildren’s lives. My oldest grandson, Brennan, is an example of how reading promotes a lifetime of learning. He is graduating from high school this year with the second highest grade point average of his class and is the salutatorian. He is on his way to Michigan Technical University in the fall, following in the footsteps of his Uncle Matt.
April 2 is also the birthday of Danish author and storyteller, Hans Christian Andersen. His most famous fairy tales include The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, The Nightingale, The Ugly Duckling, and Thumbelina, the stories I loved to read when I was young.
I look forward to more trips to the book store and the library with Elijah. There is nothing I would rather do than have a little one sitting on my lap, listening as I read a story to him (or her) – a story that lets our imaginations run wild and takes us to a place far, far away.
vovan / stock.adobe.com
