Read to Your Bunny

Rosemary Wells’ Read to Your Bunny (Scholastic, 1997) is
a delightful invitation to the world of reading. The most important thing in
the first year of life, when a child learns to love, trust, speak, and listen,
is the growth of the mind and spirit.

            Wells’ lyrical text extols the
message that reading together 20 minutes a day is the most important gift you
can give your child. In just those few moments, in a quiet, restful place, you
can share words that will help shape a life.

            Some may view this picture book as more of a primer for
new parents than a cozy read for infants and toddlers. But Wells manages to
steer clear of didacticism through heartwarming illustrations, making this
inspired volume one that will be embraced by both parent and child. Using a multicolored cast of bunnies, the illustrations
reinforce the feeling of loving closeness that shared reading can create.

            In April, organizations throughout Monroe County will
celebrate the Month of the Young Child. We owe it to ourselves to embrace
Wells’ message to: “Read to your bunny often / It’s twenty minutes of fun /
It’s twenty minutes of moonlight / And twenty minutes of sun / Twenty
old-favorite minutes / Twenty minutes brand new / Read to your bunny often /
And your bunny will read to you.”

— Carolyn Schuler

This week for families:

Barnes &
Noble Greece Storytimes Every Wed, 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., every Fri 10:30 a.m. and 7
p.m. 330 Greece Ridge Center Dr, 227-4020

Barnes &
Noble Pittsford Storytimes Every Wed 9:30 and 11 a.m., every Fri 7 p.m. | 3349 Monroe
Ave. 586-6020

Brighton
Memorial Library Storytimes Every Mon 10:30 a.m., toddlers; every
Mon 11:30 a.m., preschoolers; every Tues 7 p.m., all ages; every Wed 3:30 p.m.,
ages 5-7; Every Thurs 7 p.m., families; Every Fri 10:30 a.m., ages 2-4. | 2300
Elmwood Ave, 784-5300

Falling
UpFri, Apr 2.
Dramatic production, Shel Silverstein’s poetry, Stardust Ballroom, Edgerton
Community Center, 41 Backus St, 7 p.m. Tix: $2. 428-6769

Fly Fishing
Demonstration Sat, April 3. For ages 10-16, Fish Hatchery at Powder Mills
Park, 1820 East Ave, 9 a.m. Free. 586-1670

Healthy Kids
Day Sat,
Apr 3. Fitness and nutrition activities, Carlson Metrocenter YMCA, 444 E Main
St, 12-4 p.m. Free. 546-5500

Henrietta
Public Library Family pajama storytime,Mon, Apr 5, ages 2-8, 7-7:30 p.m. 455 Calkins Rd. 359-7093

Mister
Rodgers’ Neighborhood Event Sat, Apr 3.
Events with Mr. McFeely and Clifford the Dog. | “You Are Special,” Central
Library, 115 South Ave, 10:30 a.m. | “Building Neighborhoods Together,”
Wheatley Community Library, 33 Dr. Samuel McCree Way, 1 p.m. | “A World of
Make-Believe,” Lincoln Library, 851 Joseph Ave, 3 p.m. | 428-8301

a.m.-4:30
p.m. Free. 458-4100

Phillis
Wheatley Community Library Storytimes Every Thurs. For preschoolers, 33 Dr.
Samuel McCree Way, 10:30 a.m. 428-8212

Pre-Kindergarten
Enrollment Open Houses Tues, Apr 6. For parents and guardians of pre-K children,
various Family Resource Center locations, 9:30 Seneca Park Zoo Island Adventure, Fri, Apr 2, for ages 3 and 4, 10:15 a.m.
Tix: $18. |Tons of Tails, Mon-Tues,
Apr 5-6, for ages 4-6, Mon 9:30 a.m., Tues 1 p.m. Tix: $22. | Book and Beast,
Wed, Apr 7, 11 a.m. Free with admission. | Family Fun Night, Wed, Apr 7, 6-8
p.m. Tix: $35/family. | 2222 St. Paul St. Tix: $5. 467-9453

Strong
Museum Spring Break Week, Mon-Fri, Apr 5-9 and 12-16, entertainment,
crafts, activities, in conjunction with Berenstein
Bears and Where the Wild Things Are exhibits, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | One Manhattan Square, 263-2700,
www.strongmuseum.org.

Information
on museum exhibits can be found in the calendar’s Museum section.

Choosing
faith

My
young daughter is practicing her clarinet, and I rejoice in each toot and
squeak. She has heard everything from Gary the Happy Pirate to Stravinsky, but
only now is she experiencing the difficult conversion from curious listener to
developing practitioner. She has begun to encounter music more intimately, and
each vital texture and breathtaking nuance leaves an impression. Her horizons
expand before my eyes.

            This is an apt analogy for a
faith-filled life. Like music, faith has vocabularies, methods, and deeper
realities of its own. Every major world religion includes an invitation to
disciplined practice. Sadly, many of us choose instead to be mere curious
listeners, dabbling in the shallows of intellectual investigation rather than
diving into the depths of Godly experience. We pass this same stance on to our
children and, within a generation, vital life textures and breathtaking nuance
are lost.

            A Jewish woman and her Protestant
husband once told me they had decided to raise their son as neither Jew nor
Christian. They reasoned this would prevent a messy conflict until he was ready
to discern for himself what faith to embrace. But what can you discern when
deprived of communal wisdom and personal experience? How can the wholesale
avoidance of messy conflict possibly prepare a child for real life and true
faith?

            Not choosing a faith for family
practice creates faithless children. It is perhaps the most crippling choice of
all.

—
Rev. Corey Keyes

This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2004.