It's Now or Never

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It's now or never, 
the time is here at last.
Tomorrow ....will be too late.

Dear Read Aloud Dad,
A little less conversation... a little more reading action, please
© Alfred Wertheimer 

Your post today was inspirational. You are one amazing Dad.

The bed-time read is my favourite time of day, when all the other concerns can be forgotten and we can just bond over a few books.

Having discovered some real gems myself since becoming a Mum, I would now rather read a great children's book over any other genre - oven on my own!

I'm in awe of your commitment to finding great books for your twins.

With so many bookstores closing, there is more need now than ever for book reviews by those who are truly passionate about children's literature, not just the same tired booklists from when we were children.

You do a wonderful thing in boosting the morale of many a sleep-deprived parent.

Have you discovered Bookaboo (http://bookaboo.ning.com/video)?

It features brilliant children's books, read by celebrities to a puppet ("Bookaboo"), and models the engagement between the reader and child that really brings a story to life.  If a parent doesn't know how to do this, it takes a really great book to prompt it:  This is focused on picture books, which your children have probably outgrown, now they're onto chapter books, but you can review them just by watching the video, instead of having to buy them.  I particularly loved "The Lamb who Came for Dinner" and "Dogs Don't Do Ballet".

Other joyous discoveries include:


Thank you again for your inspirational words.

Parenting is a challenging job, despite the many joys, and it is wonderful to hear from someone else enjoying the wild ride it is.

Wishing you all the best,

Claire
from Australia
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Dear Claire,

Talk about inspirational! I love your letter and adore your great book tips!

A special thanks for telling me about Bookaboo, I did not know about it. Sounds like a fabulous way to promote books - with the cute little dog drummer and involving celebrities!

Not sure if you know about it, there is also another source of storybooks online: Storyline Online read by the members of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation.

I really appreciate you including a brief list of your book tips, apart from Julia Donaldson's Gruffalo books - we haven't read any of the others. Yoohoo! More fab books for our list.

You are quite correct when you say that parenting is not an easy job these days. At times when the going gets tough - I always remember that someone had to cope with me when I was a little boy.

Thanks to our parents for being so selfless!

If you agree, I would love to publish your letter on my blog. I have a feeling that other parents would really benefit from reading your positive message and you also included a fantastic list of book tips.

BTW, we still love picture books - a day cannot pass without at least one.



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For some added inspiration to read-aloud today, I'm adding a link to Elvis Presley's It's Now or Never.


It's Now or Never for children of this generation.

We must postpone some commitments - so that we can read aloud more today.

If you already read a lot, ask other parents whether they will be reading aloud to their kid today.

Today is a day for a little less conversation, a little more action please.

Time to spread the message.



7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the link to  Bookaboo.  I only had time to view one video story and chose "The Lamb who Came for Dinner".  Meatloaf reading picture books!....awesome.   Can I add another book that I recently discovered to the "must reads " list?  The Terrible Plop by Ursula Dubosarsky (Gruffalo fans should love this one).

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  2. Hi YvonneJ,

    Thanks so much for your comment. 

    Glad that you tried out Bookaboo, it is such a refreshing take on reading children's books! Fun, fun, fun.  

    When you think about it, reading aloud is really a glamorous affair!

    Thanks so much for the addition to the "must reads" list - I love to follow up tips from other parents! Indeed, The Terrible Plop (http://amzn.to/tRZ288) seems to be riotous fun in the vein of The Gruffalo!

    Read Aloud Dad

    Re: @83bd137cfa157259826248c22839a8d8 

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  3. Another great post! Christmas is going to be interesting in our house - I have over 350 books on the amazon wish list for my boys, AND a book fair is coming to our day care! Decisions, decisions...

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  4. Love Bookaboo!! I just sent them an e-mail with the same question but do you know if they ship their DVDs to the US? And if they have any plans to try and travel across the pond? What great stuff. It's like Reading Rainbow for today's kids :) And we too adore Storyline Online- such fun!

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  5. Hi Stacey!

    Glad you like Bookaboo! Isn't it fabulous how many resources we have as parents these days!

    I didn't see an option to ship the DVDs to the US, although I found several of the Bookaboo videos on Youtube as well. 

    Be careful if you order a DVD from the UK directly as they are produced/recorded in the PAL TV format, while we use NTSC in the US. Although you might have a multi-system TV and DVD player (in which case it does not matter). 

    Thanks so much for your comment! 

    Read Aloud Dad

    Re: Stacey Loscalzo 

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  6. I didn't realize Melinda Long had another pirate book! Am excited to check it out!!

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  7. Ahoy PragmaticMom!

    Shiver me timbers! Me didn' know she had a new pirate book, as well! 

    Me sprogs love Jeremy Jacob 'n his adventures, we must check out th' second one too.

    The first book wasn't for the lily-livered, aye! 

    If ye happen t' read it, do tell us how ye 'n yer sprogs like it!

    Yo-ho-ho!

    Read Aloud Dad

    Re: @2f04fd44b02f5004c4fadc411b33b1aa 

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