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Author’s WeChat account conjures love of books
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Zhang Hong is known to her young fans as Magic Auntie, a name derived from her popular series of children’s books entitled “Doudou and Little Magic Auntie.”
Now Zhang is casting a spell over the subscribers of her public WeChat account, Magic Reading, many of whom are parents who have turned to Zhang with questions about literacy and reading skills.
Zhang has been interested in children’s literature since she was a young girl. She began writing stories at the age of 10. As an adult, once she started winning acclaim for her books, Zhang says friends often asked her to recommend reading material for their own children.
“My friends’ requests made me realize that there is a huge demand among young parents who need help when it comes to reading to their kids,” Zhang told Shanghai Daily. “There are too many choices and people don’t know which books are right for their children.”
Zhang opened her Magic Reading account last May at first as a way to recommend books to her friends. Before long, her circle of followers grew as strangers reached out for advice on promoting reading at home. Today, her public account has over 50,000 subscribers, the majority of which are parents of preschool-age children.
Zhang says she often gets questions from parents who want to improve their children’s reading abilities. To such queries, Zhang points out that most preschool-age and younger kids are just in the very earliest stages of their reading careers, so parents need to have realistic expectations about what their youngsters can accomplish.
“There’s no rush to push your child into reading books full of words,” she says. “Preschool is the best time to stimulate the imagination of kids and picture books are great tools for accomplishing this.”
While some parents may question the value of books which contain only a few dozen words, Zhang argues that these are exactly the sort of books that young children need.
As Zhang explains, such books contain three layers of meaning. “One is found in the pictures and the second is in the words. The third is in the combination of the words and pictures and your interaction with your child. Together, these things can open a child’s mind.”
Zhang says she also gets questions from worried parents whose children show more interest in playing outside than sitting with books.
“It’s natural that children like playing. But if you can hold their attention on a book for five minutes, even that can be meaningful.”
She also shared some tips for parents, such as asking questions that will get their kids think rather than just having them sit as passive listeners. She even encourages letting kids move around while listening to their parents read.
“This means they are interested in the story,” she explains.
To cultivate interest in reading, Zhang recommends that parents install book shelves in their children’s rooms and take them to reading clubs where they can experience stories with other children. This way, the author says, children can understand that books are a part of life, like their toys and friends.
But Zhang’s isn’t the only voice being heard on her WeChat account. She encourages parents to share their own experiences with each other. She has also opened an area where members can share audio recordings of reading sessions in their own homes.
So far, Zhang is happy to report that her account is conjuring positive results. One follower recently messaged her to say that her daughter thanked her for reading to her. Another mother wrote to say that reading to her son rekindled her own love of literature.
Zhang is proud of such responses and hopes the magic can continue for readers of all ages.
“It’s really beautiful to open a book not for education but for the pure enjoyment of reading itself,” Zhang added.
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