Enrichment from deep reading...

As I write these words the weather outside is a classic November day with mist and grey clouds and the first shivering winds of winter. Only last week we were enjoying late autumn sunshine and the golden leaves clinging to their branches, if only for a few more days.

Through this blog I have shared my passion for reading with people of all ages. It is something that inspires me more the more I do it. In this season of falling leaves and temperatures, I have been introducing groups to the simple pleasures of turning the leaves of a book and thereby discovering the hidden treasures and delights within. Last week, at a local family centre for parents and children, one of our participants volunteered to read aloud to the group even though literacy and reading was something she normally dreaded. She had been inspired by the story we were reading aloud to each other and it was a real breakthrough moment. I felt humbled because there are no guarantees with this approach; every group, every person, is different and comes to the session on their own terms.

I tend to be reading a least a couple of books concurrently and this week I came across the concept of 'deep reading'.  Nicholas Carr, in his book The Shallows - How the internet is changing the way we read, think and remember explains that there are many types of reading but the more absorbed we become in what we are reading the more we might experience the quite and calm of 'deep reading'. One of the most common responses I get from my shared reading groups is a feeling of quiet and calm, focusing on the story and the words, shutting out other distractions and, for some, the remembrance of that special feeling of when they were read to as a child. I work with groups at the moment where for many that kind of childhood experience is not something they can appreciate - nobody read to them as a child. It does not occur to them, therefore, that they should read with their children. My hope is that through participating in a shared reading aloud group they will feel inspired to read to their children and thereby enrich their own and their children's reading lives.

I am not in the habit of consulting ancient masters but this quote I came across from Confucius seems a particularly appropriate way to finish 'No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.'