Library Outing

Reading is one of my favorite pastimes and I've always wanted to share my love for reading with the girls.  I got lucky in that it didn't take much coaxing from Mom or Dad to get the girls interested in books, they naturally took to reading!

As far back as I can remember, Julia has been obsessed with reading books.  When she first learned to crawl we always knew exactly where to find her if she wasn't next to us - in her room taking all her books off her bookshelf.  As she got older, she started taking as many books as she could manage into her bed with her at night and continued to read them all night and was often told to stop reading and go to sleep when we were going to bed.  Finally, we had to limit the number of books she could take into her bed with her at night when we thought it might collapse from the weight of all the books - well, not really, but you get the point.  Lately she has been spending a lot of her time reading books to Emma and her stuffed animals and there is rarely a day that goes by that we don't have a treasure trove of books scattered around the house from her daily wanderings.  Her current favorites are Pinkalicious (a great gift from Daddy!), the hand-me-down Muppets books that are probably out of print now and the collection of books on many different animals that she received for Christmas.

Emma also loves books.  In the beginning, it was always books with mirrors in them so she could see herself.  Then her interest turned to any books that included animals.  Then to most of the priddy books, which were also Julia's favorites at that age.  Now she really likes the touchy-feely board books by Usborn. We have That's Not My Fairy and it's a big hit and it's actually one of Mommy's top 5 favorite books to read to the girls.  It's a great book since we can talk about the textures on the page - soft wings, bumpy shoes, etc. - to reinforce all the work we are doing in her auditory verbal therapy.  I just did a search online and see they also have That's Not My Pony in this series and I think we'll be adding that to the collection soon to help Emma bond more with ponies.  After all, she does ride one every Friday evening, so the book is perfect for her!  

As for me, I have always loved reading and I read almost anything I get my hands on, but lately I've been focused on books to help Emma.  When I do get the odd minute of free time I read an article in a magazine since I can't commit to reading many novels lately.  I'm looking forward to our vacation in two weeks so I can read a book - or two or three.  I'm a quick reader, so I'll pack a few books in the suitcase and see how far I can get. 

Last week's adventures included a visit to the library to sign up for the summer reading program.  The girls receive a prize each week they visit the library and also receive a free scholastic book after a certain number of hours read.  We track the reading on the sheet they gave us, which I have to find before our next visit as they seemed to have vanished in my never ending sea of paperwork, but I digress.....  Here are some photos of the girls enjoying the children's section of the library.

If you have any book suggestions, please leave them in the comments section.  We're always looking for good books to read!