Read out loud
Summer reading challenge, audible edition
School is finally out this week — happy less-scheduled-time to all who celebrate! — and our local public library is about to kick off their summer reading challenge for kids. But I have a slightly different challenge of my own for you: Get your mouth into the game and read more out loud.
If you have kids in your life, you’ve probably spent a significant amount of time reading aloud. Some of it probably made you want to scratch your eyes out. For me, P.D. Eastman’s Go, Dog, Go! seemed to go, go, go on for 4,000 pages when it became the most-requested bedtime story in this house. (In reality, it clocks in at 72 pages, 515 total words. I mean no offense to Eastman here; it’s a classic, and I expect I could now reread it without feeling like there are bees swarming in my frontal lobe. But, Do you like my party hat?)
Even with the trials of repetition, reading to my kids brought me great joy, for the time spent and for the books. I think it would take me many cycles to get tired of reading The Very Persistent Gappers of Fripp by George Saunders. I read all five books in The Mysterious Benedict Society series to both of my kids more than once. And I would happily reread pretty much any of Rick Riordan’s books — to myself or someone else.
I grieved deeply when each of them decided they had outgrown being read to by me — both at around age 11. But I was already a big fan of reading out loud before I had kids, and grown-ups shouldn’t be left out of this pleasure.
In college I remember reading Toni Morrison’s Beloved to my roommate while she worked on a painting in the art studio, concerned she might not have time to finish both the painting and the book before our English exam. (Research on reading aloud shows clear memory benefits but not necessarily a boost in comprehension, and yet I certainly felt like I understood the book more fully for reading at least part of it aloud a second time.)
My husband and I spent many hours of our honeymoon reading the first few books in the Harry Potter series. (My pretty solid ability to read in the car did find its woozy limits on the winding roads between Sea Ranch and Mendocino County’s Alexander Valley.) And more recently, I’ve subjected not only family but also adult friends to live readings during road trips.
Even when I’m reading solo, my mouth wants to make the sounds. Whispery and under my breath if others are proximate; maybe booming or with more drama if I happen to be alone and want to bring not only the narrative but the house to life. I like to hear the words as well as see them. I feel more engaged when multiple senses or actions are involved. My mind is less likely to glaze over, to wander, if my voice is producing the words my eyes scan, bringing them more fully, more physically into being. And then those words are in the air for my ears to pull back into my brain. It’s a positive reinforcement loop.
Alexandra Moe’s recent piece in The Atlantic, “We’re All Reading Wrong,” declares:
“To reap the full benefits of reading, we should be doing it out loud, all the time, with everyone we know.”
And in this short piece from a New York Times Well newsletter back in February, author Kate DiCamillo tells the writer Jancee Dunn:
“It is an act of love to read to somebody. You feel cocooned, almost. It’s kind of like everybody puts down their defenses and you’re together in the story.”
They’re preaching to the choir in my case, but if you’re not already in the habit of reading aloud to yourself or someone else, consider this a no-pressure, ungraded summer assignment to give it a try.
Here, I’ll go first.
I’m currently dipping in and out of Joy Sullivan’s new collection, which is structured like a memoir in mostly prose poems. I’ll read you one…
Not sure how to pick something to read together? There’s no wrong approach, in my opinion. Personally, I have most enjoyed the prolonged connection of reading fiction to each other, alternating reader by chapter or day. Consider choosing a favorite book you’ve already read and want to share with someone. Or try something that’s a little out of your comfort zones (nonfiction if you both tend to veer toward novels, say, or a book with more difficult themes perhaps) — tackling it together could be a little like having a workout buddy. If you want to start smaller, poetry is a natural choice; it’s well made for reading aloud. Sharon Olds, Robert Pinsky (especially The Want Bone), and Derek Walcott are a few favorites of mine.
Happy reading; volume on.
As a proud recipient of your car reading, I especially love this post! The poem-moir is an excellent choice. ❤️
I love this idea!