Publisher's Synopsis
Of the many and various joys of parenthood, few can hold a candle to the simple pleasure of reading to one's child. The wide-eyed wonder that beams from a child's face as he or she listens raptly to tales of crises averted, calamities calmed and dangers dissolved - especially when accompanied with a release of the reader's inner thespian - brings warmth to the orator's heart that defies description. The years through which a child's attention may be held so spellbound, however, are fleeting; and in a world that surrounds them seemingly from birth with this or that electronic device, we face the very dismal but likely possibility of such enchantment disappearing forever. We inundate our children with such a deluge of technology and information at an earlier and earlier age until all sense of sheer amazement is rooted out and lost. Indeed, as psychiatrist Eric Berne once stated, "The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing." Ironically, as this metamorphosis in our child's life takes place, it is we the adults who tend to lose more than we realize. We mislay that singular warmth of heart that comes from looking down at a child's beaming wide eyes - a delight that can be easily purchased, but solely at the cost of a story well told.
