I Beg You. . .Please Help the Drama of the Read

The human voice is capable of an infinite variety of sounds and qualities. It has always amazed me that when people read aloud to their children they choose to read in the most deadpan, uninteresting, uninspired, unchildlike way. Why is this?

Anecdote:  I grew up in Fargo and went to Catholic school my whole life until college. So, this is what bugged me from the time I could read; going to Mass every Sunday and listening to whoever was “chosen” to read the Bible passages. It was as though a horrible sentence had been passed down and the “chosen reader” person read as though they were barely alive. Every single one of them read as though all of the life had been sucked out of them. There they were at the lectern microphone for the whole world to hear their abysmal effort and as they read amazing words like; Love, Humility, Damnation, Hell, Devil, Sin, Resurrection, and End of the World, with no feeling whatsoever, I was actually taking notes in my head and wanting very badly to just stop and say, “OK, your read makes me feel like it’s the end of the world people! And that goes for you too Father Smith! Let’s take this again from the top! What are you saying? What do you think the intention of the writer was? Could you possibly put a different spin or “read” to the word love than you do with the word hell? Do you understand the meaning of this at all?” It was as though every single word had the same meaning and was spelled exactly the same way and that word was “Drone. Drone, drone, drone, drone, drone. And then the drones droned. Droning on they droned some more. Drone to the Father, the Son, and the Droning Spirit. Drone-men.” Praying that God would let me intervene, I begged, “Please God let me save the parishioners from this torture. Let me be the “chosen reader” person! Let me read to the people! Then everyone will FEEL and UNDERSTAND the words, not just hear them in hushed, dull, monotonous, tonal hell!”

I was 10 at the time.

This illustrates something that I think most adults fall prey to; reading aloud to children with no feeling. No animation. No imagination. We forget how incredible it is to communicate through words and how each word has its own energy. Expand your reading and vocal repertoire! Read aloud and with feeling; not only for your children, but for yourself. Feel the yumminess of those well crafted words swirling around in your mouth. Authors of children’s book write in a style that is meant to be read aloud. Go ahead; surprise yourself by utilizing your vocal range. Your child will thank you. Or imitate you. Or make fun of you, but, who cares? At least they, and anyone else who may be near by, will perk up, take note, and really listen instead of saying, "when is this going to end?" 


Be a brave reader. I dare ‘ya!

And guess what? Nursery Rhymes are the perfect place to start with your new and incredible reading style. You can have your own Reading Repertory Theatre starring YOU!