The power of reading books with older children

This is my first post on my new blog, so I've left it a bit late to join in with the latest Brit Mum's carnival hosted by Playing by the book.

The theme for the posts was 'books' and as I have a book worm in the house (she even reads in the bath) it would be remiss of me not to join in, even if it means arriving late to the party!

Even though my daughter is 10, she still loves to have a cuddle and hear me read her a book. It's a time when, despite all the fledgling hormones and countless mood swings and arguments we might have had during the day, we can re-connect.

Reading a book together allows us to forget the harsh words that have been shared between us, to let the hurts go and to be in a sacred space together. We sit in our favourite rocking chair, on the floor in front of the fire, outside on the back door step or we might curl up together on her bed. It's our 'girlie' time, a time that creates special memories between us and a time for us to decompress. It means I can spend meaningful and quality time with her and she gets me all to herself for a while.

Although she can be wilful, when we read together my daughter gives me the honour of choosing the book. It's an opportunity for us to discover new authors together and for me to introduce her to some of my personal favourites. She has many of the books I read as a little girl and we can join the Famous Five on their adventures, stay up late with the girls of Malorie Towers or run across fields with Laurie Lee...

I've cried through 'The Giving Tree' with her and we've laughed our way through 'Slinky Malinky'. She's begged for more at the end of chapters and we've shared private jokes thanks to the mischievous plots in books.

We all know it's great to sit with our toddlers and preschoolers to encourage a love of reading, but maintaining a space for reading with older children can be deeply rewarding too :)