For as long as I can remember, I have always loved books. Some of my fondest memories are being read to - particularly the Little House on the Prairie series. My mom would gather Stacy and I before bed and we would read a chapter or so at a time. I suppose I was intrigued by life on the frontier (sod on your roof...and the whole make do and mend mentality - the Ingalls family really knows what's up). It was also quite common while I was growing up to see my dad reading the newspaper after dinner and then moving on to other novels later in the evening. For the longest time his prized possession was a tattered mouse book mark I made him in grade school. He used it well past it's true expiration date - to the point where both it's googley eyes had fallen off.
My elementary years were filled with reading series like The Babysitters Club, Boxcar Children, and Anne of Green Gables. We participated in the summer reading program at the library and my love of reading for pleasure continued to grow. My favorite class in college was "Childrens Literature" (a class I didn't even need) - where we discovered new childrens authors and even met at local bookstores close to campus for class. I've even been known to stuff my suitcase when we go on vacation with an obscene amount of books - I hate getting stuck without reading material! And truth be told, my secret desire is to write a children's book (the market is serioulsy lacking on books about chinchilla's and other lesser known zoo animals...)
By the time I had committed to environmental education as a major - I had built a nice collection of childrens books. Every zoo trip, family vacation, or even garage sale was an opportunity to add to my collection. When Rob and I moved into our house - our basement quickly filled with boxes of my books. Being the awesome guy that he is - he never even mentioned it - and in fact he loves reading too! He has his own box full of books and granted our tastes are vastly different (him - Science Fiction...me - Nora Roberts) - but I LOVE that he can hunker down with a good book just like me! In fact, he's often the one to suggest a trip to the library for new books! There is something so old fashioned and lovely about visiting the library and being surrounded by stacks of boxes...each with a whole new world of characters just waiting to be met.
When we started arranging Max's nursery - I knew it would need to include a space for books (heck, I even had a shower where people brought books!) Rob helped my vision come to life and we have three bookshelves full of stories to be read and shared. I probably have enough books to start a small library (it's the teacher in me I think...) but I plan to rotate the books according to his interests or season...time will tell :)
After Max arrived, I couldn't wait to start "reading" together. Now, when I use the term "reading"... I mean we are sitting together, paging through his books, and pointing at the animals or colors etc. He's always been able to sit and look at the pages - but lately it seems like he is staring at the page longer and genuinely interested in holding (eating?) the books. It might have something to do with the silly voices we use or the brightly colored animals (there is definitely an animal trend happening around here) - but I'm so happy he is interested! We have now made reading part of our night time routine and I can't wait to continue to help foster his love of books!
XoXo
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