Reading With Isabella

I am blessed that I had a mother who read to me daily and I read to our children regularly as well.  One of my favorite classes in college at both BYU and MSCW was my 'Kiddie Lit' class.  It was a pleasure to reacquaint myself with some of my childhood favorites while also being introduced to many new books.  I distinctly remember rereading Charlotte's Web while sitting on the lawn outside the McKay building and crying.  

A few weeks ago, I got the great idea to share my love of reading with Isabella through nightly FaceTime chats.  I bought two copies of Charlotte's Web - one for me and one for Isabella.  Every night I call her and we take turns reading paragraphs until we complete a chapter.

If she looks a little glum in this photo it is because this is the chapter just after Charlotte's death.  I had been kind of worried because a couple of days before this I had asked her what she thought was going to happen and she joyfully said, "I think Charlotte and Wilbur are going to be friends forever."  

She got really quiet when we read about Charlotte's lonely death but she bounced right back with joy at the 514 spider babies hatching in the barn!

And this from a girl who before now HATED spiders with a passion.

I asked her to pick our next book and she wanted a Junie B Jones book.  I looked on Amazon and discovered that there are lots of books in this series.  28 to be exact.  Isabella had read all of them up to #25.  The title of #26 caught my eye and she agreed that would be our next pick. 

Quite a stark contrast from Charlotte's web!

But it should be highly entertaining and bring back memories of our trip to Hawaii a few years ago.

When she is over at our house we snuggle up on the bed with a few animals so they can enjoy the story too!

Grandma brag moment here!

Isabella is a first grader and Charlotte's web is considered 4th grade reading level. 

She reads quickly and so expressively.

I am loving every minute of this precious time spent with our darling girl.