Introduction:Why should I read children’s books to adults?
“Ajia tells stories, specializing in children’s books, specifically for adults…”
This sounds like a strange column. Aren’t children’s books meant for children? Why should adults read them?
01
The best children’s books are often the most entertaining books. Why not read them as an adult?
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said in The Little Prince: “All grown-ups were once children, but most of them have forgotten it.” Reading children’s books is the best way to reawaken this memory.
While “The Little Prince” isn’t a typical children’s book, “Harry Potter,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “The Hobbit,” and “The BFG” are classic children’s books. At least you wouldn’t refuse to go to the cinema to enjoy the movies based on them. Enjoying these stories not only keeps us young, but is also quite fashionable.
The most typical children’s book is the picture book, or “picture book,” which leaves the general impression of “few words and many pictures.” When it first flooded the domestic market, some people even exclaimed in the media that the publishers were “black-hearted” and “money-grabbing.”
Today, people seem to have rediscovered picture books, increasingly finding artistic interest, philosophy, and poetry in them. Of course, reading picture books remains a luxury for adults and children alike. However, reading itself is a luxury today.
If you simply can’t spare the time to read, children’s books are a great option. They’re generally shorter (a picture book might even take five minutes to read). But the creativity of a good children’s book will amaze you (and perhaps someday bring it to your creative endeavors). The meaning and aftertaste of a good children’s book will linger for a lifetime…
Reading children’s books is incredibly relaxing (especially after a stressful day at work and after temporarily getting tired of binge-watching TV series). It’s a less time-consuming and healthier way to relax, because good children’s books are genuinely fun (did I mention that already?)…
When Ajia tells stories, he will appreciate the interesting children’s books themselves, but more importantly, he will talk about the culture behind these children’s books — you will find that in modern society, children’s book culture has become an indispensable part of the overall culture.
02
However, to be honest, most adults who are willing to care about children’s books do so because they have children around them — their own children to raise and other people’s children to educate.
This is normal. In fact, Ajia is also a convert in the middle of life. It was because he became a father that he fell into this beautiful “rabbit hole”. Before this, Ajia worked as a court clerk, lawyer, and law teacher. He also ran a
The “Law Exam Schedule” website has helped many people pass the exam that is known as the most difficult exam in China.
When a child comes into your life, the world can become completely different. The world remains the same, but with a child, you discover a whole new dimension. Like pushing a stroller and accidentally crashing into Platform 9 3/4…
When we eagerly connect our children with beautiful children’s books, there’s inevitably a mix of intense anticipation and anxiety: When should we read to our children? What books should we read to them at what age? How can we achieve the best results? How can we make the most of good books? What if our children don’t like to read? What if they’re too fascinated? What if they only enjoy listening and not reading? What if they enjoy reading for fun but not “learning”? What if they only enjoy listening and not learning to read? What if they only enjoy reading one thing and not another? What if they only enjoy listening and not retelling? What if they only enjoy reading and not writing? …
Ajia has been researching, recommending, and promoting children’s reading for 16 years. I’ve encountered enough questions like these to fill a whole book, “100,000 Whys and Hows of Children’s Reading.” Believe it or not, these expectations and anxieties are perfectly normal. The amazing thing is, while the initial questions can be incredibly frustrating, after a while, you’ll find that they pale in comparison to the anxiety of the next stage.
In fact, when you have finally figured out why a three-year-old child behaves like that, he or she is almost four years old! (You may hope that this experience or lesson can be applied to the next child, but you often find that even children from the same family have very different situations!)
And you, who are open-minded, will one day look back and find that all the anxieties you once had have gradually melted into the beautiful memories of growing up happily with your children…
03
Ajia said that children’s books will try to share some of your anxiety.
Understanding a few principles and applying certain techniques can make the experience with children easier and more enjoyable. Practical storytelling tips for children, eighteen tips for parent-child reading, ten secrets to playing with picture books… you might even become addicted (as evidenced by many examples).
But remember the most important and simple three-word formula: Just read! — Only when we let go of our own expectations and anxieties, and simply enjoy reading with our children, can children’s book reading (for both children and adults) achieve the ultimate state of “uselessness,” or, in other words, maximize its effectiveness.
The eighteen tricks for parent-child reading are all very practical. There are also more and more tool books and parenting reference books on the market that can provide good “technical support”. However, in the eyes of Ajia, the most lethal trick is outside the “eighteen tricks”, similar to Feng Qingyang teaching Linghu Chong “no tricks are better than tricks” -
When an adult falls “hopelessly” in love with children’s books, and thus naturally opens the floodgates of his or her own childhood memories, then any tricks used to play with children will be “invincible”!
Ajia’s discussion of children’s books focuses on exploring the possibilities of this “uselessness” and “no method.” When we view children’s books not simply as tools, but as carriers of an interesting and profound human culture, and are willing to open our minds and immerse ourselves in them, we may have found the best entry point for us to enter together with our children:
Use your children’s help to understand children’s books, and use children’s books to understand your children — and your own childhood.
04
When I first entered society, my first job was as a clerk in the Criminal Court of the Intermediate People’s Court. I mostly dealt with serious criminal cases, often handling death penalty cases, and also had to go to the execution ground to participate in identification.
Coincidentally, my brother and sister-in-law who lived far away had to entrust their one-year-old daughter to the care of my grandparents because they were too busy with work. I was also involved at the time, but I was mainly responsible for playing with the child and recording her daily growth (especially her performance in games), and then summarizing it once a week and sending it to the distant place for report.
That year and a half was a strange one: during the day, I was documenting the end of a life, while at night, I was recording its joyful growth. I was thinking that the beginning of life, while not necessarily precisely predicting the end, certainly indicated the direction quite clearly.
As a white-haired Nobel Prize winner answered, he felt that the most significant influence on his life came from his kindergarten period.
Many psychologists, especially psychoanalysts, try to go back to their childhood to find answers when looking for solutions to mental problems for adults.
But many people assert almost in despair: childhood is gone forever… Yes, time is indeed irreversible, but — and this but is extremely important — for adults, the experience of childhood is still possible!
Observing childhood, reflecting on childhood, reading children’s books by yourself or with your children are all excellent channels.
05
Many parents have had this experience: the process of raising children and growing up with them is like reliving your childhood again.
One mother told me that her childhood was almost devoid of play. As a result, she grew up only interested in studying and taking exams, not playing. But having children gave her the opportunity to relearn how to play: spinning tops, flying kites, and rolling hoops.
Of course, there are many more possibilities in childhood besides these. Especially in those interesting children’s books from all over the world, from all nationalities and cultures, you can read about all kinds of possibilities. Yes, childhood is full of many, even infinite possibilities.
Whether children or adults, they can discover all kinds of possibilities in children’s books. Perhaps you will no longer be afraid of “starting over again” or “starting from the beginning”, because almost all children’s books will tell you, “they lived happily together from then on”…
This display of hope is not deception. Hope, by its very nature, is irrational, bordering on the realm of faith.
The experience of growing up tells us that reality can be cruel; but the experience of growing up also tells us that people who hold hope often have more chances of surviving the cruel reality.
You may not be able to change reality, but you can change your attitude towards it. In this sense, perhaps adults need to read children’s books more than children.
06
After all the trouble, Ajia Storytelling just wants to invite you to explore the world of children’s books with us.
There are many topics here that are not unique to children’s books, and may involve topics that everyone cares about;
There are many methods here, which are indeed practical tips for guiding children to read and grow, but they are more like convenient bridges that you can dismantle at will after crossing them;
Here is also a most sincere wish: I hope to help you, not just your children, enjoy the joy of inner growth!
Ajia said: It’s never too late to start reading children’s books…
Written in Beijing in December 2016
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