Reading Aloud

Anne here.

One of the earliest memories I have is of listening to stories — my parents and older siblings read books aloud to me; Winnie the Pooh, Pookie, The Borrowers and many more. But the minute I learned to read, that was it — I wanted to read everything myself. Pure impatience. I could read much faster than people could speak it. Of course I gained a whole world of books. I didn't realize it at the time, but something was lost in that switch. 

As well as books, I loved to be told stories. "Tell me about when you were little," I'd say to Mum or Dad. Or, "tell me about the time when Jill ran away from home with the bathtub," which was a story about one of my sisters before I was born. I had my favorites, and would ask for them again and again, but I also loved hearing new, as-yet-untold stories that Mum or Dad would dredge up from their memories. I'd also pester my grandparents for their stories and memories. I wish now I'd written them down, because they're all lost now.

Some stories had been handed down over the generations. Dad used to tell the story of Timothy Mouse and Hector Owl and to this day I can hear him doing the voices — "mopoke, mopoke". It's not the story that Disney made a film of, by the way. I think it's a story his father told to him, but I'm not sure. A "mopoke" is a kind of owl we have here, and that's the sound it makes.

Storytelling is one of the oldest human activities. It bonds people, it shares stories and strengthens understanding within a group. It educates, but most importantly it entertains.

A friend of mine's mother had almost no education — she came from a place where education was deemed unnecessary for girls. But she was the most wonderful story-teller. As a teen I would sit with my friend, watching her mother make fabulously light and delicate pastry, her hands spinning magic out of flour and butter as she told us stories. Some were tales from her childhood, others were stories passed down from previous generations, some were scary and a little paranormal, others hilarious and very earthy.

In the past, before literacy was as widespread as it is now, it was common practice for people to read aloud to others. One person might read while a group of others sewed or did other quiet work. Sometimes it was a treat to hear part of a story during a break. Historian Robert Darnton wrote, “For the common people in early modern Europe, reading was a social activity. It took place in workshops, barns, and taverns." Charles Dickens and others published their books in serial form in magazines and newspapers, and people would eagerly await each new episode, which would then be read aloud by some literate person to those who could not read. It then became a wonderful shared experience. 

In The Last Bookshop In London, a book I recommended last month, the main character started reading her book aloud during an air raid, and people gathered around to listen, and were taken away from their present helpless horror into a world of fiction. After that first time, she kept doing it and people came back again and again to listen. It helped them stay resilient and hopeful.

These days, audio books have boomed and more and more people are finding pleasure in having books read aloud to them. I generally only listen to audio books when I'm driving a fair distance, or doing some dreary job at home, like re-grouting tiles, or clearing out a cupboard. But listening to books or stories read aloud by a real person right there in front of you is a different experience altogether.

A local bookshop used to put on readings by visiting authors. Two or three authors on a raised platform read excerpts from their book to an audience seated at tables, perhaps with a glass of wine or two. I generally went along to hear one particular author, but invariably I'd fall for every one, and come away with a small stack of books. There's something mesmeric about listening to an author reading their own words in person, even if they're not a particularly skilled reader. Of course, if they are, it's magic.

You can hear Neil Gaiman reading from his book "The Graveyard Book" here — it's just chapter 1, but I suspect you'll be hooked.  And I remember one time when I was in New York for a romance writers' conference, I attended an event called "Lady Jane's Salon" in which hundreds of writers crammed into a basement bar to hear a selection of authors read from their books. It was wonderful.

The first time I read aloud to an audience from one of my books, I was worried it was taking too long, even though I'd carefully researched how many pages it would take for the time I'd been allotted. To my surprise, when I finished, the audience wanted me to keep reading. It might have felt slow to me, but apparently experiencing the story felt different.

For years friends of mine, who aren't generally big readers, have been sharing books, taking it in turns to read a chapter aloud, sometimes while driving, or while away camping, but most often in bed at night. Each book they read together became an intimate shared experience, much more so than if they'd each read the book separately and talked about it afterward. I remember giving them How Green Was My Valley and it took them ages, but the way they kept talking about it, it was such an obviously rich experience for them, I envied them, even though I've read the book several times.

In primary school, we often ended the day having a story read aloud to us, while we doodled or colored in or did puzzles or just listened. I still remember some of those stories, and looking back, I realize that a lot of the kids who didn't like (or weren't very good at) reading got a lot out of it too. Maybe it even helped make them better readers. 

Studies show that reading aloud help people of all ages to retain stories better, that when you're listening to a story it can go deeper, touching emotions, perhaps because you're experiencing it along with the characters. Reading aloud to people in nursing homes and hospitals has been shown to improve cognition and a general feeling of well-being. I recently read about an art exhibition that had stories read aloud as part of it, and people came back again and again. I suspect the practice is growing — I certainly hope so.

So perhaps it's time to stop thinking reading aloud is only for kids —  it's for all of us.

What memories do you have of being read to or told stories? Do you ever read aloud these days or have someone read aloud to you? Is there a book you'd love to have read to you? And who would you want to read it?

 

 

 

Comments

[Elizabeth Rolls]

I remember my brother reading aloud to me in the early morning. Usually whatever he was reading. He used to move his finger along under the words and slowly the squiggles formed into words for me. I suppose I was about 4.
I remember Dad reading aloud to me once when Mum was away. I think I'd been supposed to stay with friends, but I got terribly homesick and he came to get me. He tucked me up and read to me, not because I couldn't have read the book for myself, but I asked him to read. It was comforting. Even when he deliberately changed the words!

[Katja]

Very good post, that resonates at a lot of levels with me.

"But the minute I learned to read, that was it — I wanted to read everything myself. Pure impatience. I could read much faster than people could speak it"
Yes that is me, almost exactly. Which is also why audiobooks just don't work for me.

But yes, there are books that to this very day, I can never read without hearing my granddads voice in my head. They belong together.

I also am something of a storyteller myself, I invented a set of stories for my little brother, a set of alphabet stories my mother used for teaching in primary school and another set of stories for my nephews and nieces. Especially the last ones cannot be written down (I tried) because the voice and the performance is an essential part of the story.(Plus I am not a writer).
But it seems these stories are indeed longlived, there are still ex-pupils of my mother asking her for these stories, because they want to read them to their kids and even grandchildren. Since they were never written down, that is rather impossible.

[Donna H.]

I am in my seventies now, but can remember in grade school, for the last hour or half hour of the day, the teacher would read to us. I looked forward to this so much that i would start to watch the clock and got caught once. When the teacher asked me why I was watching the time and I told her, she was so pleased. I guess she thought I was clock watching in order to go home. Those were the days our school days ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
I can still remember some of the books that were read to us as well. Wonderful memories!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne, I see how well this fits in with the Chance Sisters! Sometimes my mother would read to us, usually lightish biographies that I think she wanted to read herself but didn't have much time, so she multi-tasked. *G* Books like CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN and FIFTH CHINESE DAUGHTER.

A recent movie called NEWS OF THE WORLD is a post Civil War Western where Tom Hanks is traveling around Western towns reading newspaper stories for people who don't have much access to such things. People would pay to listen, and not surprisingly, Hanks was a great reader, pulling out interesting little oddball stories and making them come alive, and maybe adding some commentary. A great movie.

[Mary T]

My mom would read to us - most often in the winter evenings if we weren't listening to radio. After we got a television though, that almost always filled our evenings. One of my favorites books read to us was TOM SAWYER.

At bedtime though, my mom would turn out the lights and either "tell" us a story or sing a song for me and my sisters. The stories were either classic fairy tales or stories that had been made up within the family.

The songs she sang were not lullabies. They were pop songs of the day (late 40s) or pop songs from her youth. My favorite was CRUISING DOWN THE RIVER ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON.

Thanks for jogging my memory.

[Pamela DG]

My Mom read to us as children. When she was failing at the end of her life I bought the latest Jack Reacher book for her. My brother visited every weekend and read it to her. I read the most recent Stuart Woods to her as my aunt put together a puzzle. Since both of my parents passed in 2014, I've started going to a memory care center and read to the Alzheimer's patients. Classic children's stories appeal to most as they bring back beloved memories from their youth.

[Kareni]

I hadn't realized that NEWS OF THE WORLD is now a movie; I enjoyed the book several years ago.

[Kareni]

What a gift you give to those Alzheimer's patients, Pamela G. I'll say thank you for those who can not.

[Kareni]

I have a terrible memory so can not recall if my mother read to us; however, I do know that my grandmother would read to my sister, my cousins, and me when we stayed with her for a month over the Christmas/summer holiday. One book I know she read to us was I Am David by Anne Holm. I still have several books that she gifted to me as a child.

[Yvonne]

My younger son did NOT want to read chapter books, although that was the reading level for his grade. The Harry Potter books were just then starting to be released, and I was reading them aloud to him at bedtime, one chapter per night. One night as I sat down to read, he told me to skip ahead as he had already read that chapter. That was the beginning of his reading journey, reading each HP book by as it was released, then the Ender series. I read to him from the earliest days, but it was HP that finally got him going for himself.

[Beth Elliott]

A wonderful post, Anne, and one which resonated very deeply for me. My father read to us each evening, with my little brother on his knee, my mother knitting and me fiddling with last bits of homework. My husband and I kept up this tradition with our son, all taking turns to read a few pages of the evening's chapter. And in a couple of days, I'll go to the studio to record a few ten minute tales for our local Hospital Radio, for their evening storytime broadcasts, thus keeping up an age-old and vital tradition. I agree with your thoughts on how important storytelling is for all people, everywhere.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Elizabeth — that does sound very comforting. And isn't it funny how kids memorize the words and object to any changes.

[Anne Gracie]

Katja, I love that your grandfather's voice lives on in your mind. My dad's does too.
And I love the sound of your own invented stories. Perhaps you could record some of them for your nephews and nieces — and your mother's former students — maybe as a live performance, which I always think adds an extra level, as the speaker responds to the audience's various reactions. I wish now, so much, that I had made a recording of Dad telling the story of Timothy Mouse and Hector Owl. It would miss out on his facial expressions, but the voice and the sounds would be preserved.

[Anne Gracie]

Donna, those story times at the end of the day were so special, weren't they? There was a dreamy quality to them, like a special reward at the end of a busy day.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Mary Jo. I thought of the literary society in the Chance sisters series when I came to need reading glasses, and I realized how during the Regency, reading glasses would be far inferior to what we have now, and maybe a lot of older people would have to depend on magnifying glasses, which would make reading a book quite a labour.

I hadn't heard of NEWS OF THE WORLD, the movie or the book (thanks Kareni) and I'm planning to chase it down. I can just imagine the pleasure people would have got from having things read to them. My adult literacy classes were full of people who started off illiterate, and were soooo hungry for stories especially — they got a lot of info from TV, but stories were a different kind of magic.

[Anne Gracie]

Mary, we didn't get TV until I was in my mid-teens and was finishing high school — partly it was that my dad didn't approve of it, and in some cases, where we lived was too remote for TV signals. But I remember with great pleasure following radio serials. I'd be sprawled on the carpet, doing something — drawing or making something, my hands busy while my mind was far away on some kind of exciting adventure.

My mother was a singer too and have many memories of her singing to me — actually, I'd forgotten a lot of what she sang until my older sisters started having babies and Mum sang to them. And I remembered. She sang lullabies to send us to sleep, but in the car we had all the songs from her youth and we kids sang along.

[Anne Gracie]

What a wonderful thing to do, Pamela. I wish more people thought of reading aloud to people in care or in hospital. I so often see people sitting, wondering what to talk about — reading would be the perfect activity, once the family news had been shared.
I can imagine the pleasure of having those classic children's stories brought back to your Alzheimers audience. Well done you.

[Anne Gracie]

Kareni, that sounds like a lovely thing to have done with your grandmother. And I think the research is right — the books read to us do stay in our mind better. Some of my best beloved gifts were books given to me.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Yvonne. What a lovely story. I think the Harry Potter books inspired a lot of kids to become readers. A writer friend of mine's son was a reluctant reader, and I recall when he was a young teen and supposed to do a book report for school. It became an issue because he hadn't read anything except baby books or comics (neither of which would be allowed for the book report) and he didn't want to read anything else.
He was home with a cold one day and by secret arrangement with his mum, I popped in with the first three Harry Potter books. I gave them to him, saying "These are for your mum."
We often shared books, but he looked at me with grave suspicion. So I said, "They're not for you — they're for your mum." and added, "I don't think you'd like them anyway. And they're probably too hard. I don't know why people call them kids' books." So we popped them on the bench in the kitchen and I left.
Later than evening, I got a call from my friend. "How many Harry Potter books did you bring?" I told her three, and she whispered, "Because the first book is missing."
Some days later she phoned again to say book #1 was back in the pile, but book#2 was now missing. Nobody said a word.
Needless to say the book report got done. And that boy grew into a man who reads.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Beth. What a wonderful family tradition. I think it's wonderful you kept it up with your son. So often people forget the importance of personal connection and storytelling or reading with children. Too many people leave it to the TV now.

And I think it's absolutely wonderful that you do a regular storytelling session on your local hospital radio. I wish more people would do that kind of thing. Well done.

[Janet Murdoch]

I loved this post, Anne. When I was little both my parents had to work so I spent a lot of time with my Grandad. He read to me and told me stories. My favourite was The Water Babies. I loved that book! After he read Rupert books to me (which came with illustrations, word balloons, and the written words) I had my aha moment and discovered I knew what those strange shapes meant! I was 4 1/2 and was on my way to being an avid reader. When I started school at 6 I was way ahead of most of the kid's in reading and comprehension. My sister was born when I was 8 and I immediately sat down with her and started on the Dr. Seuss books - I love the sound of words - and kept reading to her long after she learned to read. Even now as an older lady if I read a passage in a book I particularly like I stop and read it out loud. So thanks for bringing back some really lovely memories!

[Shannon]

I'm in awe of picture book authors who write amazing stories in under 500 words that satisfy small people, and also satisfy the adult who gets to read the stories aloud again, and again, and again... My daughter starts high school next year. I don't miss demands to do things like read The Enchanted Wood at 2am in the morning (when she was 2 years old), or to read ALL of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe in one day (when she 5 year old, at home sick from kindy), but I do sometimes miss the intimacy of reading aloud - intimacy between me and my audience of one, and intimacy with the story.

[Mary M.]

I loved the novel, will have to look up the movie. The idea of an itinerant reader is delightful and logical. I wonder if that was really a thing in the 1800s, in America and elsewhere. A shame if it wasn't, as you'd think someone would have thought it up.

[Anne Gracie]

I found the book: https://smile.amazon.com/News-World-Novel-Paulette-Jiles-ebook/dp/B01122BZNK/wordwench-20

[Quantum]

The wide selection of available audio books is a boon for people with reading problems and a joy for others who like to listen while they work or drive or rest or .... . Its not all plain sailing though. Choice of narrator for fiction is important .... for example an American accent for a Scottish romance can upset some listeners. A complicated plot with many characters can also be difficult to follow in audio and technical stuff with diagrams and equations can be problematic. In the latter case, Text-to-Speech software can be very useful. Computer voices can read the text, highlighting the spoken word or sentence while the viewer can look at the diagrams or equations, pausing the speech as necessary. I also find computer voices invaluable for proof reading.

I don't really like listening to someone reading live from a book but do have happy memories of stories (apparently spontaneously made up ) while seated round a boy scout camp fire.

Thanks Anne for your own audio books .... always a source of great pleasure.

[Constance]

As usual, Anne, you bring back such wonderful memories by sharing your own! I grew up in a family of storytellers and there were stories that I always asked loved to hear, such as “the one about stealing watermelons from the farmer next-door“ and the one about “losing Aunt Genevieve’s engagement ring in the wash tub“. My maternal grandmother was a magical storyteller, telling both old family stories, her variations on fairytales (which I’ve mentioned here before vis-à-vis Cinderella), and making up stories about how she thought the lives of her grandchildren would turn out. Today in the US is Thanksgiving Day and, in my family, the oldest male at the gathering always reads aloud the poem “When the Frost is on the Punkin” after saying grace. Even the youngest attendees listen rapt rather than reaching for turkey! In part, that’s because they are all used to being read to before bed, at picnics, and at every other holiday as well. When I married, an unexpected benefit was learning that my husband‘s family did exactly the same reading aloud, except that they just did it whenever anyone found a passage they particularly enjoyed and couldn’t wait to share it with everyone else. I must admit that I sometimes grumble when I am reading and my husband just cannot not read me what he’s reading!

[Constance]

It was definitely a real thing, Mary - my father’s great-grandfather was a schoolteacher in Appalachia and a major part of his income came from traveling through the mountains to spend a week or so in each place teaching children (maybe adults, too?) and reading aloud from the newspapers his sister would send to him, or that people would give him along the way. Sometimes it would be for just one family, and sometimes there would be a small church or schoolhouse where listeners would gather. The government paid a small stipend to such teachers, and the families he taught and read to would often pay him in food. My grandmother said there was one family that would take his dirty clothes, and when he next came around, the clothes would have been washed, ironed, and mended if needed - that was always my favorite part of the stories about him!

[LilMissMolly]

No one read to me when I was young so I made sure that I never said "no" to book with my own two daughters. We read to them constantly from the little Mercer Mayer picture books to the magic tree house books. Even when we moved from Los Angeles to Ohio in 2003 we listened to Jim Dale narrate one of the Harry Potter books. Now that nearly 20 years have passed, I'm extremely happy that my love of books was passed down to my daughters, one of which is 24 years old and does not own a TV because she would rather read or listen to a book! :p

[Annette N]

I read to all 3 of my children. And all 3 of them like to read. I am pleased about that.

I have not read aloud in quite some time.

Hope everyone is well and safe and happy.

[Rita Boucher]

Thank you so much for this post Anne. I was transported back in time to the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza on a winter's day. My Mom, may she rest in peace, was reading me Harry the Dirty Dog for the first time. Being read to was a constant during my childhood, even when I began to read on my own. The memories of warmth, the sense of security and being snuggled as I turned the pages (my job) and watched the snow fall outside, are the legacies that I bring with me when I read that same book to my grandkids. When I read it aloud, I hear Mom's voice.

[Kareni]

What a fascinating piece of family history, Constance. Thanks for sharing!

[Anne Gracie]

What a wonderful story, Constance. Your g-g-grandfather must have been such a valued and welcome visitor. A piece of family history to be proud of. Have you written some of these stories down? I think people — family, but also all kinds of people — would love them.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Janet. What lovely memories of reading with your grandad. I remember The Water Babies. And we had Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Australian gumnut babies who lived in the bush — along with all kinds of other bush people and creatures. And I'm with you on the fun of the Dr. Seuss books and the rhyme and rhythm in them. For me it was AA Milne's poems that sparked my love of things with rhythm that rhymed.

[Anne Gracie]

Shannon, that's so true. Those beloved picture books that get read over and over and over again — and the more they're read the more the small person enjoys them. So to keep adults entertained as well is a feat indeed. I recall Mum giggling away as she read some of the House at Pooh Corner stories — I can still hear her doing Piglet in the "Holl holll a hoffable horralump" story (or however it was) — and we'd all be laughing along.
And isn't it wonderful how some of the stories we grew up on, like The Enchanted Wood, still enchant kids today. And yes, something is lost once kids learn to read. But so many adults have taken to reading aloud to each other, it might be worth trying that.

[Anne Gracie]

Quantum, I think it's wonderful that audio books have boomed so much in recent years. And you're so right about the importance of a good narrator for audio books. I would encourage all audiobook listeners to leave reviews of the audio file. With one of my books, I was given a new narrator, and I hadn't even heard it when emails started coming in from reader/listeners complaining. I passed them onto my editor who passed them on to the company, and the narrator was changed for the next book. I felt a bit bad — I still hadn't heard it for myself — but it's important to listen to the intended audience.

And yes, I imagine a complicated plot with many characters must be hard to narrate — I often find it tricky in a printed book, where I can skip back a few pages to work things out.

I also try to use my computer voice for proofing each scene after I've written it (though I confess I'm a bit inconsistent.). I've been doing it for years and there's no better way to pick up awkward phrases, repetitions, and typos. The voice I use is a bit old fashioned — there are new ones with all kinds of accents — but I like my plain old "Stephen Hawking" styleof voice that adds nothing extra to the words.

[Anne Gracie]

Thank you, Constance — and Happy Thanksgiving to you and all who celebrate Thanksgiving. And I love your family tradition of reading aloud at all kinds of occasions. Picnics — what a great idea.
I looked up that poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44956/when-the-frost-is-on-the-punkin
And yes, I love those family stories that start with a request of " Tell the one about . . . " I would love people to start writing those down. A book that is now a classic Australian story is A FORTUNATE LIFE by Bert Facey. He was a man of limited formal education, but clearly a natural storyteller, and he had a really tough life, especially as a boy. In his old age he decided to write his biography for his family, just in school exercise books. They loved it. He sent it off to an arts centre asking for it to be typed up and 20 copies printed — instead it was commercially published. You can read about him here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fortunate_Life

[Anne Gracie]

How wonderful, Lil Miss, that despite your own lack of being read to, you encouraged your own kids so much. I think a love of books and reading is one of the best gifts a parent (or an aunt or grandparent or family friend) can pass on.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Annette. Lovely that your children love to read too.
Happy thanksgiving to you all.

[Anne Gracie]

Rita, thanks for sharing this lovely memory. We often forget the small moments that can be so very special. And hearing your Mom's voice as you pass the legacy on to your grandchildren is a wonderful thing.

[Teresa Broderick]

My mother would give me books to look at when she was potty training me:) She said I couldn't wait to be able to read them myself. Once I learned to read there was no stopping me!!
I consumed books. I still do. I only lately, on the recommendation of a fellow book club member, tried audio books. I find they make the housework go so much faster. I also listened to a book club read on the journey to my daughter's. It certainly made the four and a half hour drive a lot more interesting!
Enjoyed this post. Brought back a lot of happy memories for me.

[Karin]

The author of "The News of the World", Paulette Jiles, also wrote a connected book, "Simon the Fiddler", in which the Tom Hanks character appears in a minor role. Although it is literary fiction, I think of it as a romance because there is an HEA, and I highly recommend it!

[Karin]

What a wonderful idea!

[Karin]

My father was the type to tell his own stories, rather than reading from a book. Some were about his childhood, and others he invented. For instance, he had us convinced that an abandoned farmhouse in the woods near our home was the cottage from Hansel and Gretel!

[Sue W. McCormick]

I came late to this post. My parents read to me until I learned to read for my self, and then I just took off!

I read aloud to my youngest child. My two older children, doing homework just outside the bedroom door would listen in. I may have started with The Hobbit. The book would usually have lost its' place by the next day. My youngest daughter started to learn to read from The Hobbit.

[Jan Hubbell]

Two stories:

We have a family tradition of reading “The Littlest Angel” on Christmas Eve. For years, mom read it to us. Twenty years ago, she moved back “home” to Maine from California. As the oldest child, I have taken over. We never get through it without some tears.

For several years, I was in a vanpool to commute to and from work. One day, the four gals, including one young woman who was recently married and in her early 20s, were the only ones on our van. I was reading on of the Jo Beverly or Stephanie Laurens books and they asked me to read a couple of really sexy scenes. The young woman was bright red when we finished. The next morning, she got on the van and told us her husband had asked me to read some more!

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Karin. I think the stories he invented and the ones about his childhood sound wonderful. We all have precious books from childhood, but the family stories are unique and very special. And how funny to have convinced you that the old house was the Hansel and Gretel cottage — that's one way to make sure the kids don't play in a dangerous falling-down cottage. *g*
And kids *love* the idea of mystical or magical places, don't they? I know we convinced ourselves that a certain house was a witches house, and the old lady who lived there was definitely a writh — ask any kid in the neighborhood. LOL

[Anne Gracie]

What a wonderful legacy for your kids — and you, Sue.
I hope you're recovering well and are back on the road to health, and fine reading.

[Anne Gracie]

Jan, I also have wonderful memories of The Littlest Angel, and also The Small One which Mum had on ancient records, read aloud by Bing Crosby. I have nothing to play those records on now, but I still have them.

What a hoot about reading the sexy scenes — and the aftermath of that.