Wednesday, April 28, 2010

the big red barn


Ever since I was a small child, I have read and loved stories of all kinds. Now I delight in sharing them with my little Aadhya.

One of her favorites is The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. It's a sweet picture book, of a farm that takes you to meet the animals , It is told in a lovely irregular rhyming verse. With a simple vocabulary and virtually no "story", it's easy for her to grasp what's going on . There are plenty of pictures of familiar animals, she can name and imitate the sounds of, the fact that it ends with all barn animals asleep, makes it a perfect bedtime story. After reading it several times, I have it memorized and sometimes recite it to her, when she's having trouble sleeping.

When I read aloud the story to Aadhya, using the rhythm of language, her eyes twinkle, and looking at the pictures and hearing the animal sounds, the story comes alive in her mind. The magic of story continues to play on her mind, long after I close the the book.

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