I Can Read!

Or maybe the title should be "I Can Memorize"!  Recently Owen has been asking to read to us at bedtime, versus us reading to him.  There are a handful of books that he has heard so many times now he can recite back to us - with surprising accuracy.  It started with 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear' which is pretty easy since it's very repetitive and has pictures that guide you through each page.  But recently he's been "reading" us 'Bear Snores On' - a much more complex book, but with a nice rhyme scheme that makes it easier for him to remember.  His new goal - 'Green Eggs and Ham'.  He can recite some pages in their entirety and some pages he says every other line, trading off lines with Mom or Dad.  Here is a clip of him "reading" 'Bear Snores On'.  Below is the actual text from the book so you can follow along.  Notice at the 1:10 mark when he gets the line wrong and he realizes it - furrowed brow and a pause before moving on!

A badger scuttles by,

sniff-snuffs at the air.

"I smell yummy-yums!
Perhaps we can share?

"I've brought honey-nuts,"
Badger says with a grin.
"Let's divvy them up,
cozy down...and dig in!"

And they nibble and the munch with a -
CHEW -
CHOMP -
CRUNCH!

But the bear snores on.

A gopher and a mole
tunnel up through the floor.
Then a wren and a raven
flutter in through the door!

Mole mutters, "What a night!"
"What a storm!" twitters Wren.
And everybody clutters
in the great bear's den.

They tweet and they titter. They chat and they chitter.

But the bear snores on.

In a cave in the woods,
a slumbering bear
sleeps through the party
in his very own lair.

Hare stokes the fire.
Mouse seasons stew.

Then a small pepper fleck
makes the bear.......

RAAAA-CHOOOOOOOOO!!!

He blows and he sneezes,
and the whole crowd freezes...

And the bear WAKES UP!