James Patterson and modern reading aloud miracles

Gilgandra Library continually receives new books. This week we received the latest James Patterson novel. “8th confession” by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro is the latest book in the “Women’s murder club” series. This is what Fantastic Fiction has to say about it:

“When a preacher with a message of hope for the homeless is found brutally executed, reporter Cindy Thomas knows the story could be huge. Probing deeper into the victim's history, she discovers he may not have been as saintly as everyone thought...

Rich, beautiful, and powerful, Isa and Ethan Bailey were living in the spotlight as San Francisco's perfect couple--until they are found dead in their luxurious home.

As the hunt for two criminals tests the skills of the entire Women's Murder Club, sparks begin to fly between Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner, Rich Conklin, making it difficult to stay focused on the case. The electrifying new chapter in the Women's Murder Club series, THE 8TH CONFESSION serves up the mile-a-minute twists that only James Patterson can deliver.”

Patterson has written 55 novels to date, many of them with co-authors. Interestingly, he also has a strong interest in encouraging children to read. He has a social networking site called Read Kiddo Read which has lots of good book recommendations, though being an American site, some of these books can be hard to find here. There was recently a post by “Book Chook” on this site stating that
“less than half the children under six in the USA are read to each day. The number is similar in Australia, where two thirds of the parents surveyed reported they didn't read to their kids because they didn't have enough time.”

In answer to this, Kate Wheeler made the following comment :
“I work for an organization that provides opportunities for parents who are physically separately from their children to read aloud via DVD from wherever they are in the world. How does this work? We connect deployed military servicemen and women around the world with their children at home. Right now, in nearly 160 recording locations around the world, soldiers and sailors are reading to their children. If a US Navy Seal can take the time to read to his child from a tent in a war zone in Afghanistan, why on earth aren't the rest of us?

When we show the videos of these men and women in uniform reading stories from Navy ships in the middle of Persian Gulf, it tends to inspire those parents at home to read a story before bedtime.”
"Parents play roles of inestimable importance in laying the foundation for learning to read. A parent is a child’s first tutor in unravelling the fascinating puzzle of written language. A parent is a child’s one enduring source of faith that somehow, sooner or later, he or she will become a good reader." Richard C. Anderson

I think reading aloud to my kids was one of the best things that I did for them, and it is now one of my happiest memories- one of the truly good and joyful parts of being a parent. It helped them, and it helped me. In a sometimes difficult day of parenting, our "book time" was an oasis of cuddles, shared enjoyment and imagination.

Happy reading, whether it is the latest James Patterson, or reading aloud to your little ones!