The fact is, I’m trying to do quite the opposite. I am faced with the task of sorting through what we have left of our children’s books (and certainly not the first time we have thinned the collection) all in an attempt to create some’teen living space’. In other words, we need to freshen up the lower level of our house so my husband and I can reclaim some of your living space back. Much like the time at our first house when we made our children an amazing playroom in the basement stacked with art supplies, reading material, games, toys and even some school aged instruments for their use in jam sessions. By doing this, we were able to properly decorate the upstairs…paint the walls, buy new furniture, put out nice photos and our own ‘coffee table’ style books.

This time, we are still trying to create a play space for the kids but the books will replaced by YouTube videos, ipads and iphones, and possibly an upgraded gaming system (we are still using the old Wii). The good news is that there are still instruments but the little toy drum has been replaced by electric guitars, amplifiers, stereos and a couple of saxophones when they are borrowed from school.

So, back to the books. I noticed as I was going through all of the books that we own that there are reoccurring themes. Many of the stories talk about motivation and endless possibilities, about being kind to others and respecting your world. But not only that, I noticed that some of the stories have been shared through 2 or 3 generations.  We actually have our own copies. My mother has a couple of books that I own copies of too, as do my daughters…crazy! Who knew that Peter Rabbit written in 1902 could still have relevance with young children in the 2000’s. Now I find myself storing away some of the favourites with the thought that my children will someday come back looking for their old books…maybe reading them to the next generation. Even books that we haven’t bought ourselves but have received as gifts from others share those same themes. Maybe that’s what is required of a good children’s book…it must have meaning?

By now you may be asking yourself how are these 2 ideas related, well I’ll tell you. We buy these books, read them to our children and believe that we can create nice, caring people who respect themselves, others, their environment and overall grow up to be wonderful individuals. Has it worked? That is yet to be determined especially considering that in less than a week my husband and I will have THREE teenagers under one roof!! Stay tuned for next weeks blog…a sort of ‘to be continued‘….

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