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I am reader. Fiction, non-fiction, classics, modern, doesn’t matter. Sure, I have my favorites, but I’ll pretty much give anything a go. So now that I’ve got a few kids able to read well on their own under my belt, I expected that those kids would also be readers.

Well let me tell you, they aren’t.

Cue the devastation! The tears! Mourn over the stacks of books that have never seen the light of day!

Can you relate? (Please tell me some of you can!)

So what’s the solution? Enter: the read-alouds. I’ve been reading aloud to my kids, off and on, for a long time. Picture books for all ages. Great novels for the older ones. Audiobooks have become a family favorite. There’s just something magical about hearing a book read in different voices, the characters coming to life just as the author would have wanted.

And guess what? My 11 year-old just started picking up a few books on his own – to read in his free time (!). Are they books I would choose? Some yes, some no. Is it a huge step in the right direction? Yes!

The Read-Aloud Family

I also just took the plunge on a book I’ve been wanting to read for a while: The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections With Your Kids by Sarah Mackenzie. Oh what an encouragement it is! I devoured it in just a few days. There is something lovely to be found on every page. If you want to know more about reading aloud to your kids, snap up this book. It will be placed on your annual reading list. I promise.

A little background on Sarah: she has a website and podcast called Read-Aloud Revival, and great booklists to share. I encourage you to browse her page and subscribe to the podcast. She has six kids under her wing and is well-versed in all things…verse!

Her book, The Read-Aloud Family, will encourage you to read aloud to your kids, no matter their ages (teens too!), and give you plenty of reasons to do it. The back of the book includes recommendations for every age group, plus easy-to-use booklists to get you started (or reinvigorated) in your read-aloud adventure.

Could it really be so simple?

When I am feeling overwhelmed in my homeschool, or wondering if we are making any real progress, I fall back on my read-alouds. Without fail, reading beautiful stories to my kids creates closeness, brings a level of peace and joy, and even gives us some inside jokes and stories of our own as we relate what we read to our daily lives.

Whether you homeschool or not, reading to your kids is one of the best ways to connect with them. There is something special about entering a book together, rejoicing with its heroes and mourning through its tragedies. You become involved in the lives of people and creatures you would never know otherwise. You can experience many lifetimes of new things, just between the pages of a book.

And reading aloud doesn’t take much – a library card and a couch will do it. Spice it up with a few snacks or handicrafts on occasion. Add it to your bedtime routine (for the big kids too!). No need for heavy discussion. No Cliffs Notes. Just you, your kids, and a book. It really can be that simple.

I am just beginning to see the seeds of the read-aloud sowing take root. It won’t be long before they blossom into something beautiful: a reader. Sarah’s book gave me much needed reassurance that I am pouring beauty into my kids, little by little, and over time they will become just as enamored by a good book as I am. And that’s something worth waiting for.