Some say that the best thing about writing is you can revise life as you want it. Fictional characters quite often mirror parts of ourselves and give us a greater understanding of ourselves and the world around us. 

In order to enjoy that writing we need to be literate. No matter how often we remind ourselves as to ways to do that, the busyness of our lives often gets in the way. We know that as parents, grandparents, concerned others we need to read to and with children; to allow the child to follow the words and read along with us; to write about what we read; and most of all to show children we value reading.

We are granted only a small window of time to impact literacy development, basically from birth to about eight years old. That doesn’t mean we have completed our job concerning literacy, but it means our most effective influence is over.