When you read to your baby, is the author in the picture?

Dashka Slater, Nancy Tafuri, Eric Carle, Jim Arnosky, Sheila White Samton, Bob Staake.

I don’t really know them. But I think if my 3 yr old daughter met them on the street, she’d most likely give them a hug. Or two. You see, they’re a part of her life now. She comes across their names every now and then. She knows what they do. She likes what they write. They’re the people she probably dreams about because they’re the ones who bring drama, emotion, adventure, fun, wonderment, imagination and a love of reading into her life.

They’re the authors of some of her favorite books.

When you read a book with your baby, do you pay attention to who wrote it?

I didn’t, at first. Initially, when M and I cuddled up with a book, I’d usually read out the title and then move on to the first page, ignoring the other elements on the cover. It wasn’t intentional, of course. I just didn’t know any better. It didn’t occur to me back then to point to the author and illustrator’s names on the cover. The act of reading aloud to my baby in itself was a new, joyous experience and I didn’t really think about it that much. It was amazing to me that someone in the world was (apparently)so enamored by my voice and read aloud skills that she actually calmed down, stopped fussing and listened to what I was reading. Wow. It wasn’t until later, when M started pointing to words and pictures in the jacket and began asking who those people were that I realized that maybe I didn’t deserve all the credit after all! I had been keeping her in the dark about the creators of the books she so loved.

It was then that I decided to start giving credit where it was due. With every book we pick up now, we first read the title, followed by the author’s and illustrator’s names and their bios, before beginning the story.

You won’t believe what a difference this has made to our reading experience.

I’ve noticed this in other kids too as I’m sure you have. Show your kid something once and well, you had better be ready to do it forever. Or at least a few hundred thousand times.
Now, every time we pick out a book, M wants to know who the author is. Who drew the pictures? Where do they live? What do they look like? She has begin to connect and relate. When we pick out a book by a familiar author, she can tell. Sometimes, she remembers the name. Or has some vague recollection of it at the very least. She makes connections between the author and other names we come across. We were reading a book the other day and came across a character whose name was Eric…and I tell you – I couldn’t proceed a word without first answering her questions about Eric Carle and whether this was the same person and why we were calling someone else by that name when clearly, he’s not the Eric we know.

These days, I couldn’t skip the author’s name even if I wanted to. She’ll know. She’ll pound me with questions. If we read something, anything, she wants to know who wrote it.

I think this is fantastic. Frustrating sometimes, but fantastic. It’s like she’s realized that books don’t just magically appear out of nowhere. People create them. This discovery, in my opinion, is crucial to a child.

Talking about the creators of a book is a great way to introduce your kids to the idea of writing. And art.

Equipped with the knowledge that a person somewhere wrote the words in the book and drew the beautiful pictures on the pages, kids begin to see a whole new dimension to the rectangular object in their hands.

Knowing that someone thought of the words and images to tell the story helps kids appreciate books. And enjoy a fuller reading experience. To me, it’s like when I read to M, she imagines the author(whose picture we would have looked at and whose name we would have memorized by then) telling her the story. Before we begin, she always wants to know, “Who’s the author?”. Maybe she just likes the word ‘ author’ …or maybe she’s got it mixed up with Arthur from the Arthur and DW series. Or maybe she really understands. Whatever it is that’s going on in that brain of hers..only she knows.

All I know is she’s added ‘Author’ to the list of things she wants to be when she’s a ‘big girl’. And I’m mighty pleased about that.

Do you talk about a book’s creators when you read with your children?