Ages: 2 and above
I love reading out short stories to my kids. I believe reading is a life-long affair, and absolutely stand by the saying, books are a man’s best friend!
Overtime I’ve realized that younger kids respond really well to books and narratives with fantastical characters and those with rhyming phrases. Thus, I swear by Dr. Seuss writings. I’ve personally loved these stories during my childhood years, and now introducing them to my kids is so nostalgic.
‘There’s a Wocket in my Pocket’ is one such very well written, rhyming and thoroughly engaging book by Dr. Seuss. It talks about a young boy informing the audience about how there are some crazy, interesting creatures living inside his house! The illustrations are so captivating that my kids couldn’t wait to see what’s there on the next page, as I kept reading.
Sounds fun enough to read out to little ones, isn’t it?
It has some fun, silly words, such as Wocket and Zelf, that I discussed with my kids. This got them really interested. Funny words always catch our attention. This is a very intriguing area of enquiry about human nature. For kids, such words turn out to be all the more exciting. So, to keep their attention intact, this is a trick that works very well.
You may think, how do words that do not find their place in the standard dictionaries, really contribute to a child’s development. This is an absolutely valid question. You see, Dr. Seuss’s children’s books have been highly recommended by child experts all around the world, for a long time now. The objective is not to expand the child’s vocabulary, rather, it is to nurture the idea of appreciating books. The children belonging to the appropriate age group for these books, are too little to even correctly spell some very normal words, let alone read massive books, with unfamiliar vocabulary. Thus, books with rhymes and silly, non-conforming, delightful words simply aim to catch their attention. This way, the little ones perceive books as ‘fascinating objects’ and not as ‘mundane and boring thingummy’.
There’s a Wocket in my Pocket, talks of many creatures in fun rhymes, that allows kids to imagine a world like that. Imagination is so important to connect to one’s creative side. If kids are encouraged to imagine a fantastical world, they might begin to express it in different creative ways. As parents, promoting such out of the box thinking process, is our responsibility. Restricting kids to a strict, pre-determined way of thinking, never did any good, anyway. Even schools prompt younger children to freely express themselves by introducing different creative classes that they can take part in.
Overall, this pleasantly wacky book by Dr. Seuss will be remembered by children for a long time. My older one has adored this since he was 2. Kids will absolutely love it, and will ask you to get them more of such peculiar, fun books!
