CB has been doing the Jessica Simpson coverage this week, but this little story was just too good to pass up. How is that I will believe literally anything about Jessica? And don’t say, “Because you’re an idiot, K.” I really do try to treat these tabloid stories with a healthy dose of skepticism… except when it comes to Jess. Maybe it’s because even the worst tabloid stories about Jess usually turn out to be true? Because Jessica has set the bar pretty low on what she will and will not reveal on national television? Because Jessica loves to overshare and we’re about two seconds away from having this story confirmed?
Jessica Simpson is determined to give her unborn child super smarts. The plan? Read to her baby bump!
“People first noticed she was serious when she picked up The Great Gatsby and read it aloud to her stomach,” a confused family insider tells Star. “Everyone just scratched their heads. Reading to a baby bump isn’t going to make your child the next Albert Einstein!”
[From Star Magazine, print edition]
I just love the image of poor Farty thinking she was being so clever and deciding to read to her bump. She hollered to Eric, “Get me one ‘a those fancy books! Tennessee Faulkner WhatsIt.” And Eric came home with The Great Gatsby – which is actually one of the most readable American classics – and Jessica thought she was being so clever. She read Fitzgerald’s words to her fetus in between farts and chicken wings, and all was well with the world.
For what it’s worth, I do believe parents are the first responders to America’s growing literacy crisis. Perhaps the answer isn’t reading F. Scott Fitzgerald to your baby bump, but if your child grows up in a house where their parents read – books, newspapers, magazines, whatever – you are setting a good example. I hope Jessica doesn’t think that the educational advantage of book-readin’ begins and end in the womb.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
No offense to her, but honestly, I don’t see someone who thought Chicken of the Sea tunafish was actual chicken as a “reader.” So, no, not really buying this story. She’s harmless, but I don’t see her as the type of person who uses their brain for much.
“The Great Gatsby”?! Really?! More likely she reads “The Hello Kitty”.
Or “Everyone Poops”.
The Hello Kitty!
Hahaha!
are we sure that it’s not “The Great Gas-B”?
My first thought reading the thread title: “…How odd, seeing as I didn’t even know she could read…”
Hahaha, Hakura you beat me to it. 😀
On a sidenote, I work for a large public library system in the Midwest, and we strongly encourage literacy starting from birth. We even make up new member packets for hospitals to give to new moms, and our huge summer reading program has activities & prizes for babies thru adulta. It’s sad to see how many parents don’t read themselves, let alone read to their children. But, we also get to see families that are very involved & read voraciously. You don’t need to read the classics Jessica, starting with “Hop on Pop or some Sandra Boynton will be just fine.
Sandra Boynton books were my son’s favorite! To make him laugh, we would quote “Moo, Baa, La La La” at him.
I’m surprised I was up early enough to be so early in the commenting xD I’m sure I beat a lot of people to it x3 I do agree there’s a terrible lack of reading (granted I haven’t picked up a book in a while, myself. Though I do read online everyday >.>)
My mom also raised the point that any sort of sound (of a parent’s voice) can be good for the baby.
Is anyone else not impressed with The Great Gatsby? I finally picked it up after so many years of being told that it was a GREAT book, only to be disappointed when I finished it.
I am looking forward to the film though only because Jason Clarke is going to be in it. Hot stuff.
Really? I love the great gatsby, love love love. I think you have to go into it with no expectations, and just get what you get from it. I’m always a little sad when I hear someone doesn’t love it. Any suggestions on good books though? I’m looking or something to read
I totally agree. I didn’t care for it. I know a lot of people genuinely love it, but I feel like there are also many who say they like it because it’s one of those books you’re supposed to like. At any rate, I don’t see Jessica being able to understand it in any way.
I never really cared for it either. I once studied it in an American Lit class and I remember thinking… meh. I never understood the big deal. Just not my taste I guess.
I thought I was alone on really disliking the Great Gatsby. I much prefer Don Quixote, Gone With the Wind or Animal Farm.
I don’t believe this. It’s more likely that she is playing the audiobook.
First of all, I think she looks great in that first picture.
Secondly, I think reading F. Scott Fitzgerald is the answer to every problem ever. Last time my sink backed up, I pulled out the Beautiful and the Damned until the problem disappeared.
Thirdly, and I will apologize for getting my soapbox on this but I really do think reading is critical, I agree with your statements on parents and reading. Not just seeing the parents read but actively encouraging the children – which means reading a story to the kids at night or during the day. Sitting with the child as they read to you. Making a trip to the library as exciting as a trip to the park. I think some parents, definitely not all, think the reading will just come when the child learns to read but if it has not been present until that time, I am not sure the child will see the appeal.
And the payoff is tenfold because if your child likes to read, a book can occupy them anywhere – you can reclaim part of your time back (maybe to read?)
I agree. We have books all over our house-in every room. I’m always amazed when I go to other people’s homes and I think, “Where are all their books??”
“Secondly, I think reading F. Scott Fitzgerald is the answer to every problem ever.”
THIS!
I didn’t realize she could read?
Let’s be real: this idiot sleeps with book open on her stomach because she thinks one can actually gain knowledge via osmosis. Her version of “literacy” is listening to an audiobook on repeat until she knows every word.
Does she know how to read???