To A Beginning Reader

NOTE: We plucked this one from the archives, because I think Kelly’s lovely welcome to new readers should be repeated for ALL new readers! – JDW

Dear Child,

Today you read your first word. It was “at.” You then proceeded to read “am,” “an,” and “ad.”

These are small words as the English language goes — just two letters, and one little syllable each — but you have begun one of the most wonderful journeys that this life has to offer.

Today you haltingly said the sounds, “aaah…tttt.” You struggled to discipline your eyes to stay focused on the dark forms on the page. You listened carefully as I explained what “sounding out” means. You could hardly contain your excitement to become a READER.

Your excitement is childlike as you embrace a skill that you’ve seen your older siblings master. You are eager to follow in their — and your father’s and my — footsteps. You long to be able to decode the words and sentences…the stories that all those brightly-colored books contain. You learned a long time ago that there is more to them than just pretty pictures.

And what of all the books that Mom and Dad read? Why are they so interesting? Most of them don’t even have pictures.

Child, you’re on your way! With the skills you began to develop today, you will read poetry…adventure…biography…theology.

You will laugh at the crazy weather in Chewandswallow. You will cross Beacon Street with the ducklings. You will knock on Mr. Badger’s door with the Water Rat and the Mole.

Before long, you will enter the Giant Peach, sticky and giddy with nervous excitement. You will talk to Wilbur in the barn, smelling the hay and the cows’ breath. You will weep for the loss of Old Dan and Little Ann. You will get to explore Narnia alone, without holding Daddy’s hand.

Then you will stretch your muscles some more, and walk a while with Christian in Vanity Fair. You will learn something about “gentlemanly behavior” and virtue from Elizabeth Bennett. You will scratch your head at the beautiful inaction and dilemmas of Hamlet. You will long for a friend like Sam Gamgee.

Most importantly, The Word will unfold to you. You will fearfully rejoice with the Israelites as they eat the Passover supper with their shoes on. You will read of the Word Made Flesh. You will find yourself in Paul’s treatise in Romans 7. You will understand better the promise of God, and how it is YES and AMEN in Christ. Oh, how I pray that the sweeping beautiful epic story of Christ’s love for His Bride embraces you, from the first breath to the wedding banquet. It is all about Him, from Genesis to Revelation.

There is much to see. But today, it began with “at.”

Let the adventure begin.

Love,
Mommy

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Kelly Keller

Kelly Keller is the managing editor of Story Warren. She has her BS in Elementary Education from Messiah University and has taught various ages, but her favorite was worldview and literature with high school students. The “gap” in her resume is actually a window of eighteen years of homeschooling, which she recommends as an effective, though demanding, way of expanding one’s home library.

When she’s not behind her laptop, Kelly enjoys live music, baseball, reading great books, and traveling with her husband, David. Kelly hails from beautiful snowy New England, but after nearly two decades in North Carolina, she feels right at home.

She invites you to subscribe to her newsletter, On the Common, or to follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

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