I began reading chapter books at bedtime a little after Rainbow’s third birthday. We started with Winnie the Pooh. I wasn’t sure if she was old enough yet, or if it would keep her attention, but she LOVED it. The serial, cliff hanger nature, the I wonder what will happen next aspect, and the waiting to read the next chapter tomorrow, has her completely hooked. When she’s dragging her heels at bedtime I only have to say, “Well if you want time to read you need to hurry up and…” to get things moving.
After Pooh Bear I tried Peter Pan, but got no further then the second page before she told me to put it back. So then I grabbed The Wizard of Oz. Again, I worried that it would be above her level of comprehension, but she listens raptly, asks questions and really seems to get most of what’s going on in the story.
We’ve moved on to other books by L. Frank Baum. My daughter cracked me up by using her stool to sneak the book down from where I store it atop her bookshelf to look at the pictures and see what will happen next. She got so excited to see from the pictures that the Tin Woodman was going to make an appearance later in the second Oz book.
She refers to the Oz books, all of them, as “DorothyToto”. Each night she excitedly exclaims, “It’s time to read DorothyToto!!”
She had a pretty amusing conversation with her Dad after we moved on to the second Oz book where she told him, “We are reading DorothyToto! Except… there is no little girl… and no little dog.”
I love books dearly and I am so happy to see her excited about them. I hope I’m not ruining the experience for her by jumping ahead too fast.
So, I’m wondering… Am I crazy for reading chapter books to a three year old?
I’m also wondering what the heck I am going to read to her once we’re done with Baum’s Oz books?
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