Claims made in personal improvement advice seem improbable to impossible to one muddling through an ordinary day. Standing in soggy shoes after a poor night’s sleep, listening to someone whine when you haven’t the faintest idea what is for dinner: All self-help dictums will seem laughable.
And yet, when we achieve that effortless state, a feeling of being “in grace,” we can revisit principles that have guided other mortals to increased health and happiness. When our socks are dry (or feet bare, depending on preference and locale) and our stomachs full of something warm and nourishing, most of us have to admit that there are means of increasing the likelihood and health, happiness, and sanity, and those of decreasing our chances.
Into that calm moment, I offer the exhortation to read aloud, even if only five minutes a day. While it may seem at first blush absurd that five minutes of reading aloud could have any effect whatsoever, even so modest a commitment can yield outsized results. Why?
In her book, “The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction,” Megan Cox Gurdon delves into the science of reading aloud. Strange and unexpected phenomena unfold in the brain—and heart!—of a child who is listening to a story. You don’t have to look up every last study and series of brain scan analyses to believe there is, legitimately, a miraculous quality to stories, especially for the young.
Watching a young child become enthralled in a narrative is to witness her melt into the cushions of an overstuffed chair, content. Certain fidgety children may glob onto you, absorbed in a story while they methodically squeeze your arm, calmed by the words on the page (depending on the level of the reader’s overstimulation, a gentle, “Please don’t touch me right now” might be in order, a rebuke that a good story can quickly smooth over). Long car rides are made bearable, nay, even enjoyable! with a gripping story in the sound system of the car.
Of course, a child who has never regularly listened to stories will not magically one day plop down, motionless for two hours. And even experienced story listeners may be quite fidgety (don’t assume fidgeting indicates lack of attention or interest!). Why not start with five minutes?
The public library, still a treasure trove of fabulous reading material, is now also a repository for trash reading meant to snag attention away from electronics: Captain Underpants, book versions of every Disney franchise imaginable, Mickey Mouse books, you name it! While objectively low-quality reading material, these are not a bad place to start. Crummy books can be a stepping stone to a universe of stories that can enrich for many lifetimes, transcending our mere mortality. For all that wealth, why not endure a few bad books? Many of these soulless marketing ploys can be read in their entirety in a mere five minutes. And they can begin to build the habits of attention required by better books, books with illustrations far superior but populated by unfamiliar names.
Beyond simply enduring five minutes of some mindless Star Wars books, you can quickly pivot to excellence. Even with older children, picture books are very helpful and enjoyable. There are so many beautiful and interesting picture books. As an adult, you can still learn much from picture books. Many of these good books still only take five to 10 minutes to read.
What happens if your child gets “stuck” on a book? The horror of rereading the same 500 words half a dozen times is enough for some parents to jump ship and abandon any aspirations of becoming a reading family. But giving up so quickly is foolish.
As the child gains so much by reading farther and wider over time, we, the parents, gain so much by going slower and deeper. A decent book is worth meditating on. Accept as a spiritual practice reciting again, at a certain point from memory, the lines of a familiar illustrated book that has fascinated your child. You will be enriched if you accept the task.
Beyond what happens in the child and in you, perhaps because of what is happening in you both, there is a miraculous bonding that occurs between you. Cox Gurdon writes also about the science of this relationship balm that is reading aloud and writes personally and movingly about reading aloud to her teenage son and the experience they shared. This is the real magic for home life that occurs in reading aloud: harmony.
A multitude of sharp words and irritation can be overcome with five minutes of reading aloud. It’s not as though we should grouch about the day and behave uncivilly on the premise that our virtuous reading habits will make up for it. No, but life will happen as it does, and harsh words often come, friction develops. Sitting side by side, taking in a story, we are no longer adversaries.
Reading for five minutes is not nearly enough to take in so many of the great stories the world offers us. But suggesting that we will sit for just five minutes might make it seem possible. Those five minutes can contain a multitude of trivial or deep picture books, a starting place to the world of reading stories aloud. Or those five minutes can merely be the first moments of an hour that feels like a beautiful eternity, that “enchanted hour,” Cox Gurdon writes about.
Whether for five minutes of an hour, reading aloud is a foundational habit for family life worth building your day around.
