Reason to Read Aloud #7



I love the library, my son loves the library. His father, not so much. We love him dearly, but he is not a book person. Which means (gasp!) he is not a library junkie.... Which means that getting him to take us to the library is like a form of torture for him. (Heaven forbid I ask him to take me to the book store, you would think I was asking him to commit espionage.) He is a get in, get what you need, and get out type of guy. I could spend hours and hours browsing books, which literally drives him crazy. (I promise, I do have a point here.)

So anyway, the other day I ask him to take us to the library after running a few errands.... (If looks could kill, I would have been dead, really.) So then our son pipes up from the back about wanting to go too. (I get that look again.) So with a really heavy sigh, he heads our car towards the library.

So I know what you are thinking, he has softened his heart about the library, right? We will be able to browse for hours, looking for the most wonderful and perfect books, right? WRONG! I have exactly ten minutes to browse for my son and myself. I go into super fast mode, find a book for myself, then head to the childrens' section where I scan thousands of books in about five minutes.

That day I was able to bring home fifteen picture books. (I can only say "just one more minute sweetie" to his overly gruff and annoyed "Are you ready to go?" question so many times.)



One of the books I grabbed that day was Opera Cat by Tess Weaver. I am so glad I got this book. We read it for the first time tonight. At first, I thought my son wouldn't like it, and I almost didn't read it to him, but I am so glad I did! It is a story about an opera singer and her cat who has a secret talent. One day the opera singer gets laryngitis, and finds out that her cat can sing as beautifully as she can.

After reading the story twice (my son requested a second read)...My son asked me what the opera was, so I found a music station on my phone, and next thing I knew, we were dancing to opera in the middle of our living room. It was so grand. (My son will dance to anything, I promise you, even opera.)

So, in conclusion, reading Opera Cat to your children might lead to spending your evening dancing to opera in the middle of your living room. (I can't think of a better way to spend my evening, can you?)

P.S. My other half is not an ogre, I promise. He has no problem with us venturing to the library by ourselves, it's just not his thing. He says that he can find anything he wants to read online.