High up in his castle, Prince Finn was sitting by a window, listening to the wind blow against the glass, smelling the cold, sweet air and pondering his day with peaceful serenity. As he is gazing out of his castle window, something entices him to stare at the trees across his acreage, for the most curious of circumstances is beginning. Puffs of smoke, like fluttering dandelions, are rising above the trees that seem to be swaying around in an unnatural manner. Yellow bursts like lighting jut out from the trees with a loud blast! The sound startles Finn and causes him to feel as though his chest is a few pounds heavier. A sense of curiosity quickens him to stand and think deeply about what he is seeing. Just then, darkness overtakes the estate in a shadow that reaches from end to end. The air that was once cold is now warmer, and the smell has turned to bitter musk. Finn looks up to see the most magnificent and frightening sight of his every imagination, and suddenly he is face to face with it looking at him through his window. His stomach tightens as he tries to wince back the stinging tears. Seeing it now, he knew, those were the eyes of a...

“Charlie!”, came a call from downstairs.
“What Mom? I’m trying to read”, he replied with a mild annoyance at being disturbed.
“Dinner”, the voice came back.
Charlie gently closed his book, making sure he had a mental note of the words where he left off, and went on to dinner.

* *

You might have guessed that this story would continue into a long narrative about a dragon and Prince Finn going out to fight him with his magical sword. It might have, but we will never know I guess. The beauty of stories and imagination is that they can take you pretty much anywhere. That is, they can take you anywhere your mind wants to go. As a child I remember the thing I loved most about reading was the feeling of actually being in the book itself, experiencing everything the characters were, and when I would end my book, there was a little bit of me that wondered if I was still there (or they, here). My enjoyment for reading still involves these feelings, but in a less dramatic sense. The air is not so thick with “fairy dust” as it was when I was a child. Now that I have kids of my own, I feel a sense of obligation to teach them how to read and that to love reading will not only make them happy, but more mentally aware. If you think of a child’s mind as a dark night and books as a lamppost that light the way, the more lampposts you have at night the more you can see the world around you. It’s important for us to experience the joys of reading with our children and to try to channel our “young reader” as much as possible. For a child to be fully transported to another world they must follow you there a few times first. Give them good memories of reading and they will be sure to do it for life.

Here are some ideas that will make reading very enjoyable for your child, young and old.
For infants, it’s a good idea to choose books that appeal to their senses. For example, there are many books on the market that use different fabrics or materials in place of pictures to simulate how the object would feel. "Good morning, good night" , along with "My First Baby Animals Touch and Feel" are great books for baby. While you are reading to them, place your child’s hand on the page. This is very effective with pictures of animals because you could then make the sound of the animal while the infant is feeling its fur. Books with big pictures and minimal words are also important for keeping baby focused and attentive to what is on the page.

For older children that aren’t yet able to read you can keep them more engaged by how you react to reading the book. This is useful with all ages, but more so with the deeper story lines that older children will be reading. Our expressions and tones should convey excitement and magic when reading to them. This is part of what transports them into the story and engages their mind to enjoy what they read and hear. Some good books for toddlers include "The Curious Garden" and "Goodnight Moon".

Reading is an enjoyable past time and should not be taken for granted in a young child’s life. These years are some of the most important for shaping and molding their little minds. You have the building blocks to help them build their mental “castles” and should take every opportunity to use them.