The Treasure Chest

Today's speech at Toastmasters -

In our home, we have a treasure chest.  I hope today I can inspire you to build and fill one in your home as well.

1.    At our house, books are treasures! 

a.     We have a treasure chest to prove it (photo)

b.    We make time for reading aloud to our girls daily

                                                             i.      Sometimes repeated favorites such as The Giant Jam Sandwich, Virginia Burton’s The Little House, or We’re Going on a Bear Hunt

                                                          ii.      More often, though, they are chapter books, which take us anywhere from a week to a month of evenings to complete, after which we share our thoughts in our “Read Aloud Journal”

                                                       iii.      Favorites include Charlotte’s Web, Strawberry Girl, Little Women, Twenty and Ten, Shadow Spinner, The House of Seventy Fathers, A Cricket in Times Square, and many more!

c.     As Strickland Gillilan’s familiar poem reminds us,

                                                             i.      “You may have tangible wealth untold. Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.  Richer than I you can never be - I had a mother who read to me."

2.    Literature appreciation

a.     Exposes them to a variety of literary genres

b.    Well-versed authors

c.     Trustworthy booklists such as the one shared by Gladys Hunt in her book Honey for a Child’s Heart

d.    Titles, plots, character, mood, setting

3.    Focusing mind

a.     Gives them practice listening in a day when children are quick to want to be heard

b.    With the prevalence of TV, iPods, the Wii and more, when are children ever asked to sit quietly and think?

4.    Increases vocabulary

a.     In fact, we occasionally have to stop to look up a word

b.    All of this gives rich words which can help our children “clothe their thoughts”

5.    Leads to an early grasp of grammar

a.     Sentence structure from the greats

b.    Beauty and flow of language

c.     Writing skills are being developed, all without ever picking up a pen or pencil.

d.    Stephen King understands this: “If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that,” he says.

6.    Expands imagination

a.     Creating characters in mind

b.    Gladys Hunt:  “Reading develops the taste buds of the mind.”

c.     Enables them to think logically and critically about a subject

d.    Jesus, the Master Storyteller, knew this - He taught in parables, capturing his followers’ minds and hearts

e.     Even Walt Disney, the master of all-things diversionary for children, agreed.  He said, "There is more treasure in books than in all of the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."

7.    Early art appreciation

a.     We realized this from a very young age, as our then 2 year-old Callie would run to pull a book down from the shelf to show us a painting that matched one in the book we were perusing.  Amazing little minds!

b.    This can be encouraged as you focus not only on the author’s contribution through the writing, but on the illustrator’s thorough job of bringing the words to life through drawings.

c.     Share Caldecott Medal winners along with Newberry Honor books

8.    Opportunity to Narrate

a.     Telling back the stories

b.    If someone misses a night, the recaps come tumbling

c.     There’s even a little writing practice as we summarize our favorite portions for our read-aloud journal

d.    Children understand, even when they cannot yet articulate (we occasionally have the girls act out their responses or remembrances of a story; this can get quite comical)

9.    Expands their world, all while making it seem smaller

a.     Beloved author C.S. Lewis contends that “we read to know that we are not alone.”

b.    Gives them a glimpse of other cultures

                                                             i.      They realize others are like them, though far away, having similar emotions and experiences

                                                          ii.      They develop empathy and compassion for those facing difficult situations

c.     Geography comes to our supper table (we keep the globe nearby)

d.    American Novelist William Styron contends that “A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” 

10.                       Increases knowledge base

a.     Gladys Hunt asserts that, “Books are experiences that make us grow; that add something to our inner stature.”

b.    She also points out that “reading is the direct opposite of television.” 

c.     Even Groucho Marx understood this well.  He said, ““I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

11.                       Teaches them to love books

a.     Like Thomas Jefferson, they agree, “I cannot live without books!”

b.    They pick them up when they have a moment

c.     Coplea’s all-time favorite quote illustrates her love of books:  “Outside a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.  Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read.”

d.    Children seek out worthy books which have been modeled for them, not the “twaddle” available in most children’s sections today

e.     What kind of books best increase knowledge anyway?  Browse the “education” section of your local bookstore, and you’ll see many all-in-one, encyclopedia-type volumes of information nicely organized into sections.  (You’ll also find test-taking tips and bolded words for the information you “need” to know.)   

f.      It has been my experience that historical fiction and thought-provoking literature make a far more lasting impression upon the minds of children.

g.     As French historian Paul Hazard insists, “Instead of pouring out so much knowledge on a child’s soul that it is crushed, we should plant a seed of an idea that will develop from the inside.”  Good literature does just that!

12.                       Family bonding

a.     Inside Jokes

b.    All ages listening and learning together (Let me tell you, Coplea catches up on the chapters missed if she’s at a babysitting job or basketball practice!)

c.      C.S. Lewis pointed out that “a children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.”

d.    He also added that “No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.”

13.                       Great way to wind down in the evenings

a.     Leaves them wanting more

b.    Expectancy about gathering again

c.     Cries of “one more chapter!”

So, in inspiring you to build a treasure chest full of memories for your children and grandchildren through reading aloud, I leave you with the words of Roald Dahl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: "So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall!"