Reading on Repeat with Kids: On A Magical Do-Nothing Day by Beatrice Alemagna
Because once is not enough!
It’s pouring rain this weekend. It’s dark and stormy on the almost longest day of the year. Which I’m actually happy about. Living in the woods, and it being wild fire season, we will take all the moisture we can get. But it does put a damper on our usual sunny, fun-filled days.
On A Magical Do-Nothing Day by Beatrice Alemagna is a wonderful read, and the title is very fitting for how we’re feeling in our home. I read this reading on repeat pick a week ago to my son, and it felt eerily similar to our life right now so I thought I would share it with all of you.
A mother on her computer trying to write, hair thrown up in a top bun with a coffee (and a scowl? is that how I look when I write?). And her child bored on a blah kind of day like today. The mother doesn’t want her son on any devices (ironically), and encourages him to go outside.
This book has been read a few times this week, as my son and I resonate with the two characters. The child with blue rimmed glasses, shaggy hair, and an orange rain coat, could be a boy or girl but for our sake we thought it was a little boy.
At first the orange hooded boy is sad, sitting in the rain with a stream of tears but he is soon awakened by the simple joy of nature. This book demonstrates the theme of technology vs. nature grabbing our kids attention and childhood, which is top of mind for many parents today. Also look at the neat textured rain illustration.
The story emphasizes that even on a gloomy, rainy day you can still be outdoors exploring nature and engaging in free-range play instead of being plugged into a device. You can find beauty even in the dark. The child plays in the wet forest discovering snails, mushrooms, rocks, and a part of himself, getting absolutely drenched by the rain.
In the end the mother’s scowl is gone (yay!) and the two of them enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate with no devices in sight. Something I love to do with Sully after we’ve run barefoot in the rain. Sully thinks it’s the funniest thing.
For all those families in the midst of rainy season (hello Haida Gwaii friends), you’ll enjoy this brilliant read.
- Happy Reading!