We parents want to have deep, meaningful conversations with our children about the important things of life: the gospel, of course, but also other matters of theology, Christian living, purity, character, leadership, etc. Often real life situations provide opportunities for these conversations to happen, but sometime they don’t just occur organically. Having established a pattern of reading to your children is one way to organically create opportunities for important conversations.
Becky and I have read to our children since they were infants. We read so much to them, and some of the books over and over (and over and over!) again, that they began to recite from memory every line of some books before they could read themselves. (In case you’re wondering, my favorite is Where the Wild Things Are by Maruice Sendak.)
Even after our two older children learned to read, we continue to read aloud to them. We’ve read aloud The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and part way through The Silmarillion), Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, various biographies, and so much more.
