When the little man was wee bit little than now, he had his first book. The books of small poems or chhora were read to him by his grandparents. But Bagher Golpo (The Tales of the Tiger) by Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was the first book that he 'read' when he could sit by himself.
Every night, before snuggling to sleep, it had become a ritual of sorts. Observing the pictures with the same care with which the pages were torn, he valued his reading time immensely. When he had more than one book to attend to, he would pick up his favourite from the bunch to begin the reading session. The Tales of the Tiger was followed by a beautiful book gifted by one of his paternal grandma's friend. It was a Bengali alphabet book with rhyming verses and the accompanying pictures were etchings done by none other than Satyajit Roy.
Due to the intense 'reading', none of the original books exist except in shreds. It took a lot of effort to get hold of the Bengali alphabet book's second copy. There possible was no great need of second copies of each of the two aforementioned books, since, many more books would follow in quick succession. But there was one need that was beyond the little man and his existence.
Those two books are elements of memory. Now, when i bring forth these books to read with the little man, he doesn't. i believe, remember his early reading times. What these two books are worth is the love for books that seems to show through him. He has his new favourite book - the 'baby book', he calls it. It is Smile baby smile. It has lived through the phase of reading by tearing pages. He knows the book by heart and actually reads along with either me or his dad.
The imagination in his heart hopefully grows with each book he 'reads'. When he would tear books at an early age, i didn't reprimand him. i read somewhere, tearing up pages is 'reading' too for very young kids. i didn't need to reprimand him to stop his habit of tearing pages. In broken sentences, he would try to communicate if and when such accident happened. Turning the torn page in his hand he would say, "Jah, chinre." (Oh, torn.)
What introduction of books to babies do, i am yet to witness in the forthcoming years. For starts, they learn early not to rip off pages from mom's favourite books lined up in the bookshelf. But what about scribbling? Well, that's another story for another day.
Every night, before snuggling to sleep, it had become a ritual of sorts. Observing the pictures with the same care with which the pages were torn, he valued his reading time immensely. When he had more than one book to attend to, he would pick up his favourite from the bunch to begin the reading session. The Tales of the Tiger was followed by a beautiful book gifted by one of his paternal grandma's friend. It was a Bengali alphabet book with rhyming verses and the accompanying pictures were etchings done by none other than Satyajit Roy.
Due to the intense 'reading', none of the original books exist except in shreds. It took a lot of effort to get hold of the Bengali alphabet book's second copy. There possible was no great need of second copies of each of the two aforementioned books, since, many more books would follow in quick succession. But there was one need that was beyond the little man and his existence.
Those two books are elements of memory. Now, when i bring forth these books to read with the little man, he doesn't. i believe, remember his early reading times. What these two books are worth is the love for books that seems to show through him. He has his new favourite book - the 'baby book', he calls it. It is Smile baby smile. It has lived through the phase of reading by tearing pages. He knows the book by heart and actually reads along with either me or his dad.
The imagination in his heart hopefully grows with each book he 'reads'. When he would tear books at an early age, i didn't reprimand him. i read somewhere, tearing up pages is 'reading' too for very young kids. i didn't need to reprimand him to stop his habit of tearing pages. In broken sentences, he would try to communicate if and when such accident happened. Turning the torn page in his hand he would say, "Jah, chinre." (Oh, torn.)
What introduction of books to babies do, i am yet to witness in the forthcoming years. For starts, they learn early not to rip off pages from mom's favourite books lined up in the bookshelf. But what about scribbling? Well, that's another story for another day.
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