My son Kauto has just learnt to read! He read at least two quotes from a cartoon all by himself - and he'd never seen the cartoons before. We are totally amazed with Elina - we knew this was coming, but still it strikes us by surprise.
And before you ask: Kauto is five. Okay, five and a half.
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Congratulations! You know, I once read that Finns had among the world's highest rates of literacy and also comic-book readership. Long live cartoons!
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Thanks, Peter! It seems, though, that what happened was a brainstorm late at night, since Kauto hasn't really read anything after the Friday night. We'll see, we'll see...
And yes, we have a 100 % literacy. And yes, almost everyone here read the Donald Duck magazine, which, I have to say, doesn't represent the best what comics can offer to people.
Favored books (do you folks "do" Dr. Seuss or have equivalents) are likely for the readback. At least, that's got me going. 5.5 sounds about right!
What do mean by "favored books"?
Dr. Seuss, rather amazingly, has never been translated in Finnish (is it because his rhymes wouldn't work in other languages?), but we do have lots of similar books.
And to verify what I said earlier: Kauto really can read. He's been reading a word here and there for the past two weeks. It seems, though, he is shy about it.
Books Kauto loves would be his favored (as well as favorite) books.
Yes, without the rhymes, Seuss wouldn't be That much fun, despite the excellent illustrations and charming narratives.
Ah, okay, now I get it. He's had lots of favoured books (see the UK spelling), as we've been reading to him ever since he was a little baby, maybe even when he was born! :) But it's the Swedish Bamse cartoon that got him going:
http://www.bamse.net/
Before that it was mainly Rasmus Klump AKA Rasmus Nalle:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasmus_Klump
(The last link is amazingly in English!)
A somewhat late congrats from me, too.
It's funny how some children's culture never seem to age. You mentioned the Bamse cartoon, and my niece - who turned five a couple of weeks ago - loves them too. Just like her mother and me did 40 years ago.
I trust you will guide Kauto carefully through his future literary explorations; some Tove Jansson, some Ed McBain, and then one day he will be with you when you interview James Ellroy. :)
Just keep him away from Stieg Larsson, promise?
Thanks, Anders!
If Kauto will be with me interviewing James Ellroy, Ellroy is 80 by then! Well, okay, he leads a healthy life, doesn't he?
We've been reading some Tove Jansson to Kauto - and there are the cartoons, the comics and the short picture books with Moomins. He loves them, but vintage Tove Jansson seems a bit too difficult at the moment. My daughter loves the Moomin books very much and we've gone back to them many times.
I forgot to say about Larsson: by the time Kauto reads adult stuff, Larsson is long forgotten.
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