Is so much fun now that R is interacting with the stories so much more. It's clear she's paying a lot of attention to the illustrations on every page as she often asks questions about the character or something on the page.
These are by far her favorite questions to ask:
"Where's his (or her) mommy (or daddy)?"
"Where did the mommy (or daddy) go?"
"Is he (or she) sad? Why is he (or she) sad?" [She also substitutes happy or angry for sad in this question.]
Her favorite topics revolve around how characters are feeling, and she points out some of the most amazing details in the pictures. Noticing these details often changes my interpretation of the artwork. It's kind of amazing to be given a glimpse of this material through a child's eyes, and her questions are the clearest window into how her mind is working and the connections she's making.
Some of the more difficult questions are related to sad things happening to characters in books. We made the mistake of letting her watch "Finding Nemo" a month or so ago, forgetting that Nemo's mother dies very early in the movie. This upset her quite a bit and so we fastforwarded a bit, only to have her get very upset again when Nemo and his father are separated when Nemo swims off into the open sea. Now, she can't read the Finding Nemo book without getting very upset that Nemo is looking for his father (and vice versa), so we have to turn to the final page and point out that Nemo and his father are happy and together.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I think loss is a really huge, and difficult, concept for kids between 2 and ... 5 or 6, maybe? Anyway, I remember really hitting it hard when I was about 3. My mom was in the car, singing "Darling Clementine" to me, and (as she tells the story) suddenly a howling wail arose from the backseat. I was inconsolable. ("Lost and gone forever! Lost and gone forever!")
ReplyDeleteFinally Mom made up a new verse, where the Miner 49er jumps into the foaming brine and saves his daughter (Clementine :).