#159 Read with Me

When I was a kid, my dad read to me. We read day in and day out. I remember being four or five years old, and my dad reading all seven books of The Chronicles of Narnia to me, one chapter a day. (I'm pretty sure my mom also read to me, but reading was more often a Dad thing.) So when I became a dad, I was super excited to read to my daughter, Lanie. Beyond my fond memories of reading with my dad, I've also heard many times how good it is to read with children. Lanie and I read a bedtime story every night. When Tess or I put Lanie down for her nap, we read a book with her then, too. Sometimes when I'm feeling a little too tired to keep up with Lanie I try to talk her into reading instead of bouncing off the walls. (It even works sometimes!)

On my own I read a pretty good number of Superman comics. (What can I say? I like books with pictures.) They normally aren't targeted almost exclusively at kids like they were a couple generations ago, but kid-friendly comics do still get published. A few years back through a library app I stumbled upon a great but short-lived series called Superman Family Adventures. I read it, enjoyed it, collected it, and enjoyed it all over again. Last year, the guys behind Superman Family Adventures returned with a new book about Clark Kent's early adventures as Superman: Superman of Smallville. I thought it was great, too, so when I received some Christmas money, I decided to buy a copy. I don't know if I'll have a child interested in comics, but if I do, I figured Superman of Smallville would be a great first one for her or him to read.

Last week Superman of Smallville showed up at the Hofman house.

When Lanie saw it, she was immediately interested. I don't know if it was the bright colors or the simple art style, but she was drawn to the book like a pin to a magnet. So later that day she brought me the book and asked me to read it to her. Suddenly my reading with Lanie and my own reading came together. We read the first chapter. Later on she grabbed me again and had me read the other three chapters to her. The next day we read the whole thing again. The day after that we read the first volume of Superman Family Adventures. As you'd expect, I've been beyond thrilled to read this with her, and I mean, come on. Look at this sample page:

What's not to love? Lanie doesn't have to like Superman or even comics in general. But if she wants to read and reread Superman of Smallville, I can't imagine I'll tell her no.

Grace and peace,

BMH