I have mentioned my early reading adventures in several posts now, and recently I have had another come floating up from the depths of my memory… Disney’s read-along books.
They came with a record that slid into a pocket in the back of the book and I loved them! All of a sudden, books became interactive. I remember running through Sherwood Forest with Robin Hood and Maid Marian and escaping with Penny, Miss Bianca and Bernard in The Rescuers. They also helped me to learn to read at a very young age.
When my daughter came along, things had changed a little (and I don’t just mean in my life :). By then, read-along books came with CDs of course, instead of records or cassette tapes, and you could find them much easier. We would play them in the car on our way to school, or at night when she was *supposed* to be going to sleep. If you have ever read my About page, you will know that sleep was an elusive thing for us in those days.
Recently though, I began to learn a second language, and I found that children’s read-along books are still a great way to learn to read. Of course, technology has made it even easier. You can find websites like Reading’s a Breeze that have interactive books for all different levels of young readers. Best thing for me of course, is that they have them in different languages, like English (US and AU), French, Italian and Spanish. And they have plans for even more languages in the works! I would highly recommend you go take a look, especially if you have young readers just learning to read, or if you are like me, an old reader trying to learn something new.
Obviously, I love children’s books (just look at the Books page on my blog), but how much I loved reading them, when I was once again learning a new thing, amazed me. There’s an excitement very reminiscent childhood that sort of pounces on you, surprising you with the enjoyment of something simple and satisfying.
Idyll Dreams & Nonsensical Things 