Picture Books

We all know that we should read aloud to our children, but when do we stop?  And surely "big kids" are beyond picture books? 


I recently took our favorite anthology of picture books off the shelf, dusted it off and began reading a couple of stories every night aloud to my elementary aged children.  My motivation was the fact that I discovered that when I referred to a story they had loved as smaller children, they mostly looked at me blankly as though I was speaking a foreign language. 


As I started reading, they were mesmerized and completely drawn in to the stories.  When I came to the end of one, they begged me to continue.  Naturally, part of what we were experiencing was nostalgia for a bygone era, especially as they began to remember the stories from countless re-reading in the past, but they were also seeing the characters through different eyes and relating to the story lines on a more mature level.  We had interesting conversations about the illustrations and the problems facing the characteres as well as the interactions between them.


Soon, my children were begging for story time every night and we continued to read through the entire anthology.  Sometimes we took turns reading aloud, and surprisingly (to them) they weren't quite as easy to read as they had thought.  There are some challenging words in those books, and the rhythm and flow of the prose are great practice for reading aloud and developing fluency while practicing expression and interesting voices.


Do I now only read picture books to my older kids?  No, we also read chapter books that might be too overwhelming for them to tackle on their own.  I try to find a balance between different levels and genres of books.  I want my children to know that they are never too old for any good book!