Monday Musings: Children's Books

Do you buy books as gifts for children – either your own or those of friends or family? Would you buy books for all children, or only children who are already practiced readers?
I buy books for all children. My personal opinion is that one can never be too young to enjoy a book. Babies enjoy soft books and board books. Toddlers are fascinated with books and can have a single book read to them multiple times and never tire of hearing it. They also like to pack around stacks of books and build things with them. But that's ok; books are very much a part of their lives. I love when little ones sit down with a book they have heard so many times that they can repeat the story from memory, even though they aren’t reading this is how reading starts.
I have always bought books for my children and grandchildren no matter their reading level. Every year we looked forward to the school book fair where each child was allowed to pick out a few favorites.
My daughter reads chapter books to her very young children at bedtime. They love this nightly tradition, and I can certainly see that their vocabulary skills surpass many children their same age. Reading a continuing story to children also improves their memory, deductive reasoning and comprehension skills. Books and Children, belong together.

Last year I gave my oldest grandson a copy of the Spiderwick field guide, a blank leather field journal, and a satchel. His mom purchased the Spiderwick Chronicles. He had a fun year finding the magical, mystical creatures that live in our neighborhood and documenting them in his own field guide. I believe a child’s imagination should be encouraged through reading.

Lots of activities can be planned around children’s books as well. Just yesterday I was remembering how my son’s kindergarten class came on a field trip to my house. We harvested vegetables out of the garden. Back at the school we read the book Stone Soup and then prepared a delicious soup from our harvest.

I have a tradition with my grand children and books. I make books featuring my grandchildren. Each one has a different story:

Big Bears book was a photo story about a trip to visit the local dinosaur museum
Honey actually ended up with two books, the first is a counting book and a book about some of the important things to name—such as eyes, ears, mouth, etc.
Yummy’s book is all about things she likes to do
Little Bears book are names of the people in his life
Sweetings book is under production—it will be about colors in relation to the clothes she wears. She is a fashion diva. The children love these personalized books.

A child can never have too many books, and in my opinion those books should be accessible. A worn out book means that a book has been enjoyed.