Soul of a Librarian

I am a book lover.  Actually, it goes far beyond that.  I have a raging, passionate love affair with books.  As a child, books were my best friends.  I would read under the covers at night, using my digital alarm clock for light.  My parents would have to enforce bedtime by taking away my reading materials.  Any where I went, I had to have a book with me.

The love affair that started in the early years of my youth, still burns with the same passion.  I continue to bring a book with me *everywhere* I go.  I feel naked without it.  I keep a book in the glove compartment of my car, just in case there is a quiet moment when I can read a few lines.

Being passionate about reading, I have often pondered how it is that I can raise my children to share this passion, as I put a good deal of value on this trait.  I believe that it is my duty to raise children that love to read.  As such, I have done a bit of reading (haha) into the subject.  What I have found, in the way of scholarly and expert advice, is this: teach by example. Experts believe that having parents and role models who love to read does more for a child's reading habits, than anything you can say or do for them.

My example:  

1) My children live in a house were the bookshelf, not the television, is the center of the common living space. 

2) They also have a personal bookshelf in their rooms, where their favorite books are kept. 

3) The kids see their father and me reading daily.  We also, in order to get more reading time, have established an hour or so when the kids must "chill."  During this time they can read, draw, or do anything that helps them relax and quiet down before bed.  Often, they choose to read.

4) The fourth, and final way (that I can think of right now) that I get my kids to read, is by letting them choose their own books. Be they comics or Dr. Seuss, we regularly go to the library and/or book store so they can choose their own reading materials.  This, I believe is crucial....

This is what I do to raise my kids to be passionate about reading.  How do you work to this end?  What are your suggestions?

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms blogging program to be eligible to get an "I Can Read!" book. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

Train of Thought...

I received an odd text today, which got me on a bit of a tangent. The text itself was about trains....

When I was a wee little girl, I lived in a small town. No, I am not talking about the sort of small town where the only place to shop is a Wal-Mart. No, the sort of small town where I grew up has a population of less than 200 folks, and there nearest Wal-Mart, or town of any considerable size is at least 1 1/2 hours away in any direction....

A small town of this sort has a sense of community that one cannot even imagine unless you have ever lived in one.... We also had things that city folk may never have heard of. For instance, the bookmobile. This is usually an airstream, or other such trailer, whose insides have been renovated to contain rows of bookcases, much like the photo above.

As an avid reader I was always excited about the arrival of the bookmobile. She only came once every other week, but when she did come we were allowed to walk up her steps and pick out any books we desired. They would be ours for the duration of the next two weeks. This traveling library opened Worlds to me.

One such world I shall never forget, is that of the Boxcar Children. Now, many children before and after me had the opportunity to experience this amazing series. However, because the bookmobile tended to have older books, I was able to enjoy them in their original, hardcover form. You know, with the obvious cloth covering over cardboard, much like the one pictured here. To think of it now, I held in my hands books that children from the 40s and 50s and had read and loved, and I read and loved them too. I, too, had fantasies of living in a boxcar.....

Many years later, and not too long ago, I came across an opportunity to enjoy the 'comforts' of a boxcar. This I discovered when I was planning a trip to the quaint little Texas town (no, not a small town like I referred to earlier) of Fredericksburg. By way of searching for lodging, I came across the 1894 Pullman Car. This is a luxury train car that Theodore Roosevelt is said to have slept in.

Though I was not able to spend quite the amount that they were asking, I have not forgotten its existence. I plan to stay there some day, and make use of its beautiful amenities. When I do, I hope that it is raining, and that I can enjoy the sound of the rain pitter pattering on the many windows and the metal casing that is the boxcar.