Honey for a Child's Heart

Remember that all the words you say, all the sounds you make with an infant are getting that child ready to use words.  The more words a child knows, the better reader he will become in the future.  Dr. Seuss books are fun because he sometimes uses words that  tangle the tongue and are often senseless, but it heightens the imagination. I guess learning the sounds of alphabet letters could be called “phoemic awareness” or whatever. The important thing is that it is an introduction to language and language is fun.

My nephew Kenny, age 2, called a horse a llanolano. I have no idea why. One time when I was driving through the countryside with Kenny and Jimmy, age 3, in the back seat, I heard Jimmy say, “Look, Kenny, a llanolano.” To my surprise Kenny rebuked him, “No, that’s not a llanolano, that’s a horse!” Kenny did not want Jimmy using his word! We didn’t even know Ken could say the word horse! All of which says that it is good to let children have their own private language to inspire their imagination. He knew all along what he was doing. And when you think about it, llanolano is more musical than horse!

Want a delightful book for a very young child?  Get Mem Fox’s Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.  It's in hardover only (no board book yet) but worth what it costs. Mem Fox, who lives in Australia, has done some wonderfully creative books for children, and here she is teamed up with illustrator Helen Oxenbury who lives in England.  Along with charming pictures of children from all over the world, marveling at their ten little fingers and ten little toes, we read:

            But the next baby born was truly divine,

            A sweet little child who was mine, all mine,

            And this little baby, as everyone knows

            Has ten little fingers and ten little toes,

And three little kisses on the tip of its nose!

The musical repetition of “ten little fingers and ten little toes” becomes a game to play with your baby as you change diapers or dress a child, ending with a kiss on the end of the nose.

It’s fun to see how infants respond to nursery rhymes and simple discoveries of their motor skills with hands and feet. Patty-cake, patty cake is a timeless exercise that brings smiles and coos.  This little piggy went to market is always a winner. Don’t be a stuffy grown-up, too uptight to be a bit ridiculous to amuse your children.  And yourself.  People are meant to grow older only on the outside, not from the inside out!