The Book That’s Getting Me Excited About the New School Year

I’m an avid reader. I have been for as long as I can remember. As a child I spent family vacations with my nose stuck in a book. I’d easily finish reading four or five books while sitting at a campsite in Colorado.

I devoured Nancy Drew and The Baby Sitters Club. I vividly remember my 6th grade language arts teacher reading aloud to us each day during class.

I love to read. I love books. Amazon gets a lot of my money.

I currently have a stack of books begging for my attention.

I have always loved a good story.

I couldn’t wait to become a mother because I couldn’t wait to read to my children. I want Jackson to love books and words and stories as much as I do.

I have always read to Jackson.

I still remember the first book we ever read to him at just two-days-old.

As a newborn, I read board books as I rocked him. At four-months-old we started attending baby story time.

I don’t think twice about ordering the newest picture books about trucks, trains or planes. His bookshelf is full of them. Buying books is a great investment.

I recently read The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie and it has sparked a fire within me to make reading an even bigger priority for our family this school year.  

Sarah writes: We send a clear message to our kids when we spend a portion of our family budget on books and when we give books a priority place in our home. We say that they matter, that they are part of who we are, and that they are a part of our family culture. 

She goes on to say, home is where we fall in love with books. Home is the only place in which our children have a fighting chance of falling in love with books.

I want Jackson to fall in love with books.

I don’t want to focus so hard on teaching Jackson how to read that it squelches his love of good books.

Sarah says: we want our kids to read because they love to, not just because they can. 

This school year I want to read to Jackson more. I want to stop stressing about him learning to read. I want to pick up a book and let him get lost in the story.

I want to share stories and deep connections.

Sarah’s book is encouraging me to open more books with my boy. 

I want to take trips to the library and the bookstore. I want to add books to my never ending Amazon list. 

I want to listen to audio books on our weekly commutes to speech therapy.

I want to take away some of the pressure Jackson feels when he’s trying to read, and instead instill a love for reading that he can hang on to for a lifetime! 

So tell me friends, what are your favorite read aloud books for a 6-year-old boy?