The air is cooling, and people are rushing!

It’s a wonderful time of year for me to talk with you about the gift of reading. But what does that really mean?

In Onslow County, it means more than 900,000 Imagination Library books have found loving homes! Home libraries are being built. Children know the joy of running to mailboxes and pulling out books addressed specifically to them!

It means that each one of these books gives children a personalized experience with reading.

Think about these little readers’ experiences:

• Three-week-old Jesse listens to the familiar, lulling sound of her mom’s reading as she dozes.
• Seven-month-old Isaiah loves to point out all the animals while his dad reads.
• The two-and-a-half-year-old twins, Ella and Isla, listen to their grandma as they bounce around her.
• Three-year-old Ben loves it when his older brother reads and uses silly voices.
• Four-year-old Natalie watches as her mom runs her finger under the words as she reads them.

Those beautiful books are being used in so many ways:

• Strengthening emotional bonds
• Building brains
• Creating print awareness
• Growing vocabularies
• Fostering a love of reading!

During this holiday season, it’s so easy for our attention to go to making meals and scheduling visits. We worry about gifts-what to buy, what will be the best toy. The answer is easy.

You are the best gift your children have-your care, time, teaching, and love. So this holiday season, carve out some time every day, snuggle up with a few good books and your little ones, and enjoy! Then let that gift grow to every day throughout the year!

The gift of reading is something you celebrate with your children every day and creates a love of reading that lasts a lifetime.

Happy Reading!

Lisa Davis

Early Literacy Coordinator

Resources

Click here to a list of books that make great gifts for children.

Click here to register all your children under the age of 5 for a monthly, free book through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

There are only 2,000 Days between the time when a baby is born and then enters kindergarten. If you’d like to find out more about those First 2,000 Days, visit https://www.facebook.com/first2000days

If you or someone you know could use some supports for their own literacy, please contact the Onslow County Literacy Council at http://www.onslowliteracy.com/ (For adult learners only.)