I have a secret obsession...
I. Love. Children's Literature.
It's magical!
To be fair I love literature period, but there is something so very special about children's books.
You can often find me scouring the shelves in the children's section of the library stuffing my bag with kid's books. If you see me at Barnes and Noble I'll be upstairs in the kid's area sitting on the floor with a stack of books and a smile on my face! Sometimes my kids are with me but often I'm alone just being a creeper reading picture books to myself.
And don't get me started on garage sales where you can buy books for a quarter! A QUARTER!
The thing I love most about books is that we can get lost and find ourselves all at the same time! Books are magical like that!
Austin recently pointed out that he has been noticing more and more random stacks of books scattered throughout the house. I basically have a children's library in my home. And I can't really explain why but books make me happy.
So far Landon doesn't seem super interested in reading on his own but I keep buying books for him anyway because I know it's just a matter of time.
Once he finds HIS book THE book that will change everything I just know he'll get lost in the magic of literature! To those who say they hate reading...I say they haven't found THEIR book yet.
I remember MY book... I'm guessing I was in 3rd or 4th grade and the book was a non-fiction story about Sally Ride. For those who don't know she was the first American woman astronaut in space! Up until that point I had always LOVED being read to by my mom but reading on my own had always felt like a chore...like homework. After the Sally Ride book everything changed and I was in love with reading!
Maybe reading is in my blood. My mom read to us constantly. My brother, sister and I would lay on her bed while she read aloud to us. My mom loved to read Bible stories to us and I am so glad she did! My dad has always loved to read and his mom; my grandma actually had an entire room in her house dedicated to books. I loved going into her library and seeing what seemed like an impossible amount of books for one person to own. And she would let me borrow anything.
Her library is where I discovered my love for Stephen King and mysteries in general!
I think when I fell in love with books I was actually falling in love with words. I think putting really well worded sentences together to create a beautiful and meaningful story can be likened to writing a music score. All the parts come together in this melodious way to express and convey feelings, thoughts, and emotions. Books tell stories with words and music tells stories with sound. It's pretty amazing when you think about how complex it all is!
I think what impresses me so much with children's literature is the author and illustrators ability to work together to capture so many big and complex ideas and whittle them down to the root.
And obviously not all children's books are conveying big life lessons.
Sometimes kids books are just for fun! In our house we LOVE the fun and silly non-sensical books. The "Stinky Face" books are some of our favorites if you want something light and fun.
Also, read the "David" books by David Shannon! Especially if you have rambunctious little boys!
For this post though I really wanted to share some books that I believe are truly special in that they are written for children but manage to tackle HUGE and REAL issues in life.
The books I want to highlight actually spark real conversations with our kids. Some of these books address bullying, depression, feeling like you don't belong, being okay with being you, and a bunch of other things. I posted a picture but I'll just highlight a few since this post is already too wordy!
- I'll start with "Sweety". Sweety is a naked mole rat who totally dances to the beat of her own drum. She is that "awkward" kid we've all probably been at some point. And even if you were cool enough to mask the awkwardness so no one else knew you were insecure we ALL know what it feels like to find your place among your peers. Sweety has a big personality but she doesn't change who she is to fit in. She doesn't hide the fact that she loves studying fungi or that interpretive dance is her thing...In the end she finds her people and it's the things that make her uniquely Sweety that they bond over! The illustrations are great and me and the boys were definitely giggling at Sweety's antics.
- "The Invisible Boy" The illustrator is a GENIUS. The story itself is really beautiful but the illustrations bring the words to life! I think there were so many times as a kid in school where I felt invisible and left out and sometimes I wondered if it was me...was something wrong with me...again, I think most of us have felt that way at some point in our lives. If you've ever been picked last you probably wished you could be invisible sometimes. This story really did a good job of just bringing these kinds of issues into awareness and opens the doors for so many great conversations with our kids. Hopefully our babies never have to feel this way and maybe when they see someone who might feel invisible our kids can be empowered to be kind and include them!
- "The Color Thief" I am just blown away that someone decided to write a book for kids who have a parent or loved one dealing with depression. So often we focus on the person suffering from depression. I love that this author wrote about the effects of depression through a child's eyes. For such a heavy topic I was blown away at how the author could use such clear and concise language that kids can understand without any of the clinical jargon that would just be over their heads. AMAZING!
- "Gondra's Treasures" This one is Logan's current favorite. Honestly I think the story is really cool but I think Logan is obsessed with the illustrations. I didn't know a dragon could be so cute. Gondra's parents are two different types of dragons and she is figuring out that she inherited different traits from each parent. So, though she is like her mom in ways and her dad in other ways she is also uniquely Gondra. We all want to know about our ancestry and who we inherited what from to have a more complete idea of who we are and this book really speaks to this curiosity in all of us!
- I saved my favorite for last. I grab it every time I go to the library and I think I am just going to buy it. "The Remember Balloons" makes me cry every time I read it. The fact that a children's book can do that astonishes me! The fact that people lose their memories as they get older is to me one of the saddest things that can happen. I can't begin to imagine what that would feel like. To just slowly unbecome yourself...to not recognize YOUR people...it's kind of terrifying actually. This story so magically and beautifully captures this in such a profound and bittersweet way. I read it to Landon and we had an interesting conversation. It's amazing how much kids know and really how much they can understand. We are so fortunate to not have this experience with our immediate family members and I hope we never do. I believe empathy is an important quality to have and reading stories from other people's experiences and perspectives can really help hone this quality.
There are SO SO many children's books I love. Sometime I'll share the books that are in our "Special" basket to keep forever as heirlooms. A few of the books are from my childhood and some go back further than that! Most of them are the boy's favorites and I hope that they pass them on to their kids. Maybe someday I'll write my own children's book. I have so many stories that I have just orally passed on to the boys and they LOVE them so if I can just put pen to paper...
Roald Dahl is one of my favorite children's literature authors and he said
"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it"
I think if we look for it we can find a little bit of magic in every day! Here's to looking!
