“Succeeding begins with reading.”- Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program

As both a parent and children’s book author, I smile when I think about Día. I find the formal title beautiful: “El día de los niños/El día de los libros, Children's Day/Book Day.” Remembering the blessings of a child, every day is truly children’s day and how lovely to recognize a combined children’s book day.


Reading to and with my son is one of the favorite rituals and simple joys we share each day. From the beginning of his life, words have enveloped him. While he was in my belly, I read to him. When I read silently to myself, I imagined that the words that swirled around my brain flowed from my blood stream into his, our lives connected. After he was born, when he was only a few days old, it didn’t matter to me if I read a children’s book or The New Yorker magazine to him. I just wanted him to hear my voice articulating words over and over again.

Now my son is five and we read together each day. I look forward to the moments when we read and together become immersed in a story. My active, playful son winds down, enticed by hearing about a lion that was a late bloomer; a princess who defeated a fire-breathing dragon; a groundhog attending weather school; a man who photographed snowflakes; a cat in a hat; a library lion; a farm maiden stirring a cazuela, and so much more. The characters and topics are endless and each story usually prompts questions and/or discussion. Reading contributes to the development of my son’s imagination and I think that life is so much richer with the use of imagination. Reading is an opportunity for us to bond over words and emotions evoked. Occasionally, in relation to a story, my son reveals information about his school day. I listen carefully, grateful that hearing a story resulted in this sharing.

And, where do we read? The answer is everywhere. I read to my son during meals. While he soaks in the bath, I sit on a stool next to him and read books. Sometimes we cozy up in a chair in his room that I have deemed “the reading chair.” We read together before he is about to go to sleep. We read on airplanes and on the occasional bus trip. I wear a backpack when we’re out for an excursion and I like to keep three staples in it at all times – a book, crayons, and paper.

Books in our home come from both libraries and stores. We go to the library almost every week and it is not an exaggeration to say that we typically have anywhere from five to fifteen different library books scattered throughout our home. At the age of four and a half, my son was as overjoyed about obtaining his own library card as he was about receiving a new Thomas the Tank Engine train for his birthday. In fact, his excitement about the library card lasted far longer. It is attached to a small, bungee cord he likes to wear around his wrist, and he has proudly shown it to every one of his teachers as well as to anyone who visits our home.

When we discover a book we love, we write the title down as a reminder to purchase it. We celebrate with books as gifts for most, if not all holidays. In our home, our son knows that Santa Claus, Cupid (for Valentine’s Day), the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy all accept written requests for books (from children who have behaved well). That is not to imply that chocolate, jelly beans, or money are excluded from the latter-mentioned holidays, but books are included, too.

Birthdays are occasions for books as well. Each year on my son’s birthday, I have given him a book. The books I’ve selected are not necessarily age-appropriate, yet they are books I want him to have for his personal collection. Last birthday, he received “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The year before that, I purchased “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” so that he would have it in hardback. On his fifth birthday, he received an illustrated version of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 100th Anniversary Edition.” I inscribe each book with a note and the specific birthday that the book commemorates, and then store the book in our son’s bookcase.

Even when my son enjoys reading on his own, I will continue to look for books to read and share with him. I want to continue that experience as long as I can. My mother read books to me and also made up stories that she told me. My memories of her sharing stories with me is something I cherish, and more than that, it sparked my imagination and I began to dream about writing stories of my own.

While I find reading to my son to be pleasurable, I know that reading to him each day also produces a tangible gift – that of literacy. A literacy quote that always strikes me is from Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program:

“Literacy can make the difference between the poverty of one generation and the promise of the next.”

“Being read to as a youngster is the foremost predictor of academic success in childhood. If a child can read at grade level by 3rd grade, she will continue to read at grade level throughout her academic career. A child who succeeds in school will remain there, earning a chance at a better job and a better life in the years ahead. A child who lacks early exposure to reading often suffers from low self-esteem, struggles academically, and is at higher risk for substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and delinquency. Succeeding begins with reading.”

As parents, we are in a unique position to promote and support literacy. Read with your child; you’ll be giving them and yourself a wonderful gift – the knowledge that they can succeed.

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Samantha R. Vamos is the author of two bilingual children’s picture books, Before You Were Here, Mi Amor (Viking, 2009, illustrated by Santiago Cohen) and the forthcoming The Cazuela That The Farm Maiden Stirred (Charlesbridge, February 2011, illustrated by Rafael López). Before You Were Here, Mi Amor was a Latin Baby Book Club Libro del Mes in April 2009 and Parents magazine (May 2009) selected it as one of six books nominated “Best for Babies.” Over seventy Spanish words are woven into the English text. A podcast of the book may be heard here.