Lures

this morning i sat with my 9 year old as he shared his new book on fly fishing. "look at all these pages! these are just about bait!" i said, "did you know these are called 'lures'? why do you think they are called 'lures'?" i asked. "because they lure the fish." and that reminded me of reading. 

my oldest loves to read. he is like his parents. whenever we are at a thrift store or a flea market, he gravitates to the books. the other three, not so much. they love being read to, but when it comes to choosing a past time, they will choose legos over books any day of the week. 
a few months ago i was trying to get the middl-ish child to sit to read to me. he is a reluctant reader-slow, and uncertain. he becomes overwhelmed when there are a lot of words on the page so i decided poetry would be a good gateway to a lifelong passion for reading. few words, some rhyming, beautiful syntax. and he took to it. he was so inspired that he began writing his own poetry. here is one of his original pieces:

the forest is fun.

the forest is playful.

no where is better than the tree.

the second born has the memory of an elephant. he can remember the slightest detail from a book we read 3 years ago. it is quite helpful really. he is my go-to whenever i forget whether or not we have read certain books. 

the littlest is a busy guy. he sometimes needs coaxing to sit for a story. when we began our journey through chapter books {me reading/him listening}, i needed a little back up so i began allowing him to enjoy a sweet whilst we read. you might say i used sugar to lure him to reading. yep. i remembered a book called the bee tree by patricia polacco. in this delightful picture book, a reluctant mary ellen is coaxed to read when her grandfather shares the adventure reading can take you on when you hunt for it like a delicious drop of honey. the two head out on mad cap adventure to find the bee tree where they procure honey that the grandfather ceremoniously smears on the cover of a book as he explains, "There is such sweetness inside of that book too! Such things...adventure, knowledge and wisdom. But these things do not come easily. You have to pursue them."

and that pretty much sums up my love for a great read. in this stage of life finding the time to read a book just for fun, just for me is rare. so when i choose to sit to read to my brood of boys, we read treasured books that i would enjoy even if they were not around. a good excuse to reread charlotte's web, dr. doolittle or a favorite field guide. 

with summer approaching, my bookshelf is teeming with books i hope to find the time to taste whilst we visit the shore or enjoy a siesta from the daily grind of school time routine. what about you? xo