This child's Reading Rainbow is mostly red

As I've mentioned before, I have a two-year old who isn't talking yet, except to say "no" and "oh no". My wife and I feel partially responsible for this, thinking maybe we didn't read to him enough when he was an infant. They say it doesn't matter what you read, as long as the child hears the sounds and cadence of the words. Now we have a four-month old, and we're trying not to make the same mistake with her. To that end, I thought it would be a great idea to read to her from the book I'm currently into, Finn Mac Cool by Irish author Morgan Llywelyn, about the legendary Celtic warrior of the title. Ms. Llywelyn's poetic command of the English languange has made her my favorite author, so I thought, who better to introduce my daughter to the wonderous beauty of our native tongue? Proud of myself for making this Baby Einstein connection, I sat her on my lap yesterday and began to read aloud from where I'd last left off:

"In battle skills he was not superior, nor even equal, to Finn, who hacked through his knees with an angled blow of his sword, then thrust Fiachaid's spear through the man's throat and left him dying, pinned to the earth he'd tried to win."

I closed the book. She looked up at me, a little more wide-eyed than usual.
"Maybe we should just play pat-a-cake."