If a book is good for you to read at 5, it is good to read at 50.

A recent article in the WSJ drew attention to gorwn-ups reading Children’s books. I don’t think it is any secret that a good book for children is a good book at any age —as C.S. Lewis said: If a book is good for you to read at 5, it is good to read at 50.  But there is a big benefit when children and adults together engage in reading a book. When parents talk with children about a book they are part of a reading relationship.

The currency of a reading relationship is love, affection and tenderness and become part of a child’s emotional DNA. A reading relationship fosters the emotional connections children need to thrive and forever changes the experience of reading. Parents who read and talk about a story with children feel more connected to their children and more satisfied in their role as a parent.

Reading is not simply the interaction of the child with a book. Intimacy and closeness are communicated while you are talking about a book and are the heart of the Reading Relationship, which every child deserves to experience. 

If readers bring books to life, conversations that happen inside a reading relationship bring readers to life.