One of our favorite bedtime rituals is to gather every night with blankets, pillows and cozy blankets for reading aloud. When my children were little, I read to them from picture books. Now that they are older, we read from novels.

I use a warm and soothing tone as I read, snuggling up and allowing my listeners to imagine the story unfolding. One chapter is read each evening unless, of course, we simply MUST know what’s going to happen next, then we read more!  (Last year we read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl within just a few evenings because we couldn’t read just one chapter at a time. We love that book!)

Not only do we enjoy reading these stories with so many amazing characters and fun adventures, there are many benefits to reading aloud to children as well.

• It enriches and grows their language development and skills.
• It encourages a love for reading.
• It introduces them to new places in the world and provides educational opportunities.
• It grows their imagination.
• They learn empathy.
• It is memorable family time.

Take a look at the Pinterest link provided where I’ve pinned some of our big-kid favorite read-alouds. Enjoy!