Avery’s Bookshelf: Ralph S. Mouse (1)

One of the magical joys of loving stories my entire life is sharing them with my daughter. At four-and-a-half years old, her eyes are wide with wonder; she’s never heard the folk tales and storybooks I grew up on; and sometimes, I’ll find a book I remember from my adolescence and realize that I get to read it to her for the first time.

Inspired by other parents’ rhythms and home cultures, I’ve started a regular afternoon tea and read-alouds ritual with Avery. She is just beginning to read. Her attention span is lengthening, as is her capacity for understanding more complex plots and characters. So, putting several Magic Treehouse books on reserve at our local library, I started an intentional time of reading and fellowship in our house after quiet time.

This afternoon, armed with glazed lemon loaf herbal tea, gluten-free sourdough chocolate chip muffins I baked yesterday, and the classic Beverly Cleary tale Ralph S. Mouse, we sat down for a half-hour of (somewhat distracted) narration. Avery loves to see the periodic pictures in the book, but she was just as riveted on her muffin, the random questions in her head, and the orange lid of an old Gatorade bottle lying on the kitchen table. All in all, not too bad for our first tea party book club. I even got to explain what an Epilogue is, since this book has one.

Throughout our reading of this little chapter book over the past month, her focus has seemed spotty, but she’s also seemed to have recollection of the major plot points. At first, when I’d suggested reading more, she sounded disinterested: Tonies or TV felt more compelling. But as we got further into the book and built the rhythm of reading aloud, she started to request “Ralph the Mouse” (and even asked if they had made a Ralph the Mouse TV show). Amused, I told her we should finish the book first and then look into that.

After wrapping up our first chapter book, I thought it would be worthwhile to archive our little ritual of tea and reading—to build a little virtual bookshelf of Avery’s reads and our time together. Soon, this fall, she’ll be in preschool, and this rhythm will be more sparse, in all probability. I’d love to do after-school teatime and reading sessions, but with a baby due in July, I can see how, realistically, we might default to screens and individual time some of those afternoons. All this to say, I’m soaking up this spring and summer being a mom of one, and I’m relishing the chance to share the magic of chapter books with my little girl.

Here’s to a good cup of tea and a good book—with loved ones.