More on Books

A few days ago we visited a small local bookstore to find a First Communion gift for a friend of ours. I found a beautiful picture book on Mother Teresa written by Demi. We've enjoyed many of Demi's books of Chinese folktales, but I had never seen this book before. Then I told Arielle and Liana that they could each choose one book.

I rarely buy books except used ones from book fairs. There is no need--we have a great little library only a mile or so from our house, and what we can't find there we can order through the inter-county loan system. At home we have a collection of very special books. I always love when the girls receive books as gifts, especially if the gift-giver has written something in the front cover to one of the girls. But mostly, all the books the girls read are from the library.

My family never had much money when I was growing up but books were very important to my mother. In the small desert town where I lived as a child, there were no libraries or bookmobiles. That came later when we moved to Missouri. But we did have the Arrow Book Club at school. My mother allowed me to get as many as I wanted with the condition that I read every single one of them. I always had the largest stack on my desk when the orders were delivered to the classroom. I'm amazed by that now because I don't know how my mother paid for them all. I still remember some of the titles: The Shy Stegasaurus of Cricket Creek, Emily San (about Japan), and Elizabeth Blackwell, Woman Doctor. I still remember that new book smell and the pleasure of holding a crisp new paperback in my hands.

The girls were excited to actually buy a book and what fun they had choosing. They skipped over most of the modern series and then paused for some time over the non-fiction, picking up books on presidents and ancient Egypt. They examined the American Girl mysteries. Then Arielle discovered the shelves with the Newberry Medal winners. She found several she wanted, reading the back cover and exclaiming, "This looks good!" I reminded her only one book. We wrote down some titles that she could request from the library.

At home Liana had just finished her first chapter book, read silently rather than aloud to me. I encouraged her to choose another. She found Treasure Island, a Stepping Stones adapted classic and immediately decided that was the one. Arielle settled on Johnny Tremain, a book on the Revolutionary War. My girls love adventure!