For the Love of Books!

I love books. I love to turn page after page and watch the story unfold before my very eyes.  I love the feel of the smooth, crinkly (that is a word, right?) pages and the musky smell of a good used book. I love to think of the adventures that readers before me have experienced and wonder if they also felt the same emotions or if the book has touched them in the same ways it has touched me. There is something magical that happens when I get to read a really great book, a classic. I have had this love of books from a very young age.  I cherish the memories of drifting off to sleep as my mother read chapter after chapter of Boxcar Children, Little House on the Prairie, Nancy Drew, and so many others.

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I also love now, that these are moments, characters, and stories that I get to share with my children. I love that William reads everything he picks up. I love that on Thursdays when he comes home from school with his new library books, he can't wait to get to his quiet room, and his comfy bed and sit for the rest of the day combing over the pages, analyzing the characters, and immersing himself into the story. 

I also have found a new way to share these stories with my children.  We spend at least an hour a day in the car. Like most of you, I'm always driving to and from school, grocery store, post office, sports practices, activities... you know what I'm talking about.  I know many mom's use car DVD players... but that just isn't me.  We usually listen to Christian radio or play alphabet and counting games in the car...until recently.

We were at our local library for story time, while I was glancing over a few of the DVDs when I came to the section of books on CD, my eyes instantly rested on one of my all time favorites, Little House on the Prairie.  I found myself hoping one day my boys might want to read a book about a family with 3 little girls... Yeah right!  But I decided I would get the CD and just see what happened.... turns out they love to hear about Laura and Mary, and the adventures they have as they travel in their wagon and make a new home.  We are now on the fourth book in the Little House on the Prairie series and the kids request it every time was get in the car. 


I love the exposure to classic literature they are absorbing. I love the history that the stories hold, and the raw adventure and emotions that are expressed as we listen intently. I love the questions and conversations that keep coming from my boys as they listen to what life was like in the pioneer days, and the joy that they feel with every victory the Ingalls family has.

I hope to continue to show my children the fun and adventure that can come from something so simple as a book; I also hope that they too will grow a love for the written word and that it will follow them through life.  ]

Do your children love to read, or be read to?  What do you do to encourage that love?
I'm always looking for more wonderful stories to share with my family...What are your favorites as a child or favorites that you share with you children now?