For the Love of Books

 I am an avid reader.  This is not news to anyone who has read this blog regularly.  I love to read.  I read to my girls a lot.  And I really love this:

Ever since we watched the movie Snow White at my parents' house last month, Miss has really been into reading her Snow White Little Golden Book.  I have read it to her so many times she knows it by heart.  Literally.  She knows every word of the story.  She says words like "envious" and "penalty" and uses adorable inflection to make the voices of Grumpy and the wicked queen.  She reads the book to her Oopsy Bear.  She reads it to her sister.  Okay, she tries to read it to her sister.  Little sister usually doesn't listen all the way through.  She likes to do her own thing.  Miss isn't the only one who likes to read.

Lass has her own favorite books that she looks through or requests to have (insists on having) read to her over and over and over.  When the book it done she'll flip it back to the beginning and say "bee-ee," which is her way of saying "please."

Both girls ask to have various books read to them frequently throughout the day.  I spend a lot of time reading to them, and it makes me incredibly happy that they love books so much.  I think they get sick of hearing my voice reading the books though.  If I'm reading a book to her when her Daddy gets home, as was the case tonight, Lass promptly grabs the book and takes it to him to read to her.  I could say this hurts my feelings, but after reading the same book five times in a row, it really doesn't.

Last week we went to a play date.  Miss spent most of the time "reading" the books of our little hostess.  She grabbed one of the girl's stuffed animals, sat it on her lap, and proceeded to tell the stories in the books she found as she saw them based on the pictures.

She has typically had a little village of stuffed "friends" in her bed when she goes to sleep.  However, recently it has been more important to her to have her books in bed with her.  Yesterday I asked her if we could clear out some of the many stuffed toys in her bed.  She said, "sure."  The only things she insisted on keeping were her Care Bears and her books.  She has at least 10 books in her bed right now.  As I've been typing this post, I've been listening to her "read" these books to her bears.  It makes me smile.  She does this every night and at nap time (if she's not reading she's singing loudly).  When she's ready to sleep, she will lay down the book she's reading, saving her place by keeping it open but face down, and do just that.

I don't know how much of my girls' love of books is hereditary and how much of it is just the result of my frequent reading to them.  I guess I don't really care.  It just warms my heart to see how they enjoy hearing stories or learning from books.  When we read we use funny voices or make funny faces.  We do lots of question and answer with the picture books and other more educational ones.  We comment on, ask questions about or laugh about what characters are doing or thinking or feeling.  It is amazing to me to watch their little minds grow and imaginations stretch through reading books.  I have so many wonderful books I'm eager to share with them when they get a little older.  The Little House on the Prairie series.  The Anne of Green Gables series.  Little Women.  And so on. I hope my girls never lose their love of books and passion for learning.