Books Abound

Our kids love to read. And when I say love, I mean LOVE! We started reading to Joshua, our firstborn, when he was just a few months old. As a first time stay-at-home mom, I was pretty eager to fill the days with some kind of meaningful activity. I would sit Joshua up in his bouncy seat and then read all kinds of colorful picture books to him. When he was about 9 months old we bought a picture Bible for kids and started reading that to him.

By the time Hannah came along and then Abby, reading was a definite staple in our daily routine. Not only did I spend a fair amount of time reading to the kids, but they spent a lot of time on their "reading" to themselves and to each other.  In fact, when Abby was around 7 months old she became so enamored with books that if I read one while she was nursing she would stop her meal in order to look at the book.

Given the way the kids love to read, it shouldn't come as a surprise that their favorite outing (next to Friday park days) is going to the local library. We used to frequent the library once a week, but now we just grab a giant pile of books that we read and re-read until their due date. Then we go back and get another stack.

I have mentioned Joshua's fascination with Ancient Rome, which has gotten us well-acquainted with the Juvenile Non-Fiction section on ancient cultures. So contagious is Joshua's enthusiasm for all things Roman that Abigail has even caught on. She informed me yesterday that she wanted books about the Roman Army. She's a girl. She's 2 1/2 years old.  She doesn't know Dora the Explorer or the Disney princesses, but she knows about legionaries and the Colosseum.

When we do get out of the Non-Fiction section, we make our way to our other favorites which are The Berenstain Bears, Franklin, and Maisy. We went through a Dr. Seuss kick, but the kids only seemed to like a few of them - "Fox in Sox" was by far the favorite.  I'm also starting to check out some chapter books to see what might be age-appropriate for Joshua (5 1/2 years old) who is reading up a storm.  This week I found "The Indian in the Cupboard", "The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog", and "The Jungle Books". It'll be refreshing to get my nose into something other than books about family and home management!

And, if I was ever wondering how much the kids are learning from all of their independent reading, my concerns should be put at ease after this brief conversation with Joshua this morning. With the Lord's help, I taught Joshua how to read, but the learning certainly hasn't stopped there!

If you're looking for some book suggestions for toddlers and preschoolers, you can check out our book blog.  I wasn't able to keep up with it how I had hoped and abandoned the effort after a few months and since our kids were still 4 years and under, we never got into books that are geared for elementary students and older.  But, if ever I have the time (and that's not meant to be joke!) I will certainly resurrect this blog.

So, what kinds of books do you and your kids like to read?