The Enchanted Hour

This book made me want kids. RIGHT NOW. It set my clock ticking, so to speak. Which may sound weird, but I dare you to read this and decide that you don't love reading aloud to children and that you don't want to nightly bedtime ritual. The Enchanted Hour breaks down the "magical" benefits of reading aloud and the effect it has on children's growth and family bonds. Everyone knows that reading to your kid is good, but after reading this book, you'll realize JUST how good it is and you'll never skip another bedtime story. It's better than any multivitamin, educational kids show, or preschool. Reading aloud can set your child up for a brighter future than you ever imagined - they will be leaps and bounds ahead of their peers and that isn't just in kindergarten; research shows that the reading gap can actually be seen in HIGH SCHOOL, kids that are read to and read to frequently engage more of their brains, are exposed to more words, concepts, and comprehension. Two passages in the book that really stuck out to me:
 - "A story is never wholly yours again, once a movie has colonized your mind's eye." - on reading the books BEFORE seeing the movie
 - "Owning something and taking possession of it are two different things, of course, A child may have as much right to Beowolf as the scholar who devotes his life to the study of Old English. Yet unless the child meets the hero Beowolf and the monster Grendel, he cannot be said to have taken possession of the property that's his. Let that child's mother read Beowolf in translation at bedtime (if she dares - it's pretty gory), and the child's custody is complete. The characters and scenes and language of the book will become part of his internal landscape. The book's mystical qualities will add sublimity to his experience of life."
A wonderful book. One that I want to own and give out to new mothers.