"Every baby needs love, the magic of words, and the rhythms of language. A writer's baby needs that AND his own library."
That's what a friend, who writes romance novels as Lindsay Longford, wrote in a card to me this summer before Baby X's arrival.
"May your baby love books and stories and the gift of reading as much as you do."
I put the card aside, intending to write in this blog about it, because I really like the sentiment. More than six months later, I'm finally getting around to it.
And, wow, does Baby X have an impressive library. My writer friends showered him with books, one of my two baby showers had a theme of giving inscribed books instead of cards, and another good friend passed along her children's library, which they'd outgrown. Remarkably, of all the books given, only four were duplicates. These were either exchanged or are awaiting re-gifting so another child can experience the joy.
We're already having fun reading board books to him, such as Barnyard Dance!
and Guess How Much I Love You
.My husband and I can't wait to read the rest of Baby X's books to him over and over as he grows. It'll be an education for me, too, since I've never read a lot of the classics, or have forgotten them, or they became classic long after I grew up.
My youngest boys are 8 and 11 and I still read to them. It is such a special time to spend with a child, and then the pay off comes when they start kindergarten and are one of the best readers in the class on the first day of school. Keep it up the benefits are endless.
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