Happy International Children's book day! I didn't know there was such a thing until I saw a reference to it on FB this morning. And if you are aware of my obsession with children's books you know this is a day I must celebrate. I googled it and found out that there really is such a thing and evidently it was yesterday and I missed it. But regardless, it gave me the idea for a blog post.
I've never really been one to say I collect certain things. I never set out to be a collector of children's books. I don't even consider it a collection.... lets just call it my LOVE of children's books. It started when I was a child myself. My favorite children's book was "Ferdinand The Bull". Oh how I loved that bull. He was just like me. He wasn't like the other bulls, he loved to lounge in beautiful fields and smell the pretty flowers. He had my heart.... like so many other children's book characters. And so it began.
Books were a big part of my own children's lives. We didn't have a large collection of children's books due to the expense of purchasing them. But we had the classics and we belonged to several book clubs and of course we took advantage of the library. Every night was story time and the kids picked out what books they wanted read to them. "Where The Wild Things Are" was Caleb's favorite. We read it so many times that Caleb could recite it word for word long before he could read.
After the kids were grown I discovered this thing called thrifting. And low and behold, thrifting was a wonderful way to get children's books. Books that I would drool over in the book stores that cost $15 each I could get at thrift stores for 50 cents and one dollar! At first I would only buy one here and there. I felt foolish buying children's books when my kids where grown and there was no grandchildren in sight for a long time. I'd sneak them in the house for fear of being laughed at and I'd hide them in the book case. But then I realized I wasn't buying those books for my future grandchildren (although, that certainly is a perk), I was buying them for myself! Why should I be embarrassed of my love of children's books? And beside, before long there was no way I could keep hiding them, they were taking over the book shelves.
I don't know how many children's books I now have. I have two book shelves completely full. I counted them at one time and it was over 200 but that was some time ago. I do occasionally go through them when I have no more room on the shelves and I weed them down to my most special ones. I have certain criteria that the books must meet to find a home on my shelves.
First they must be hard back and in good condition. At thrift stores I find many books with inscriptions inside the front covers "To So and So from Grandma". Sometimes these inscriptions go on to tell a little story about how this book reminds them of them, or how they hope the special meaning behind this story will touch them. At first I would pass up those books but now I buy them anyway. I believe it gives the book a little more meaning to know a little of it's history and what it may have meant to a child, even if I only have the child's first name. Kind of cool, huh?
Second is the artwork. I am so drawn to the beautiful illustrations in the books. The colors, the expressions, the scenery, the characters. The artwork in a children's book is as important as the story.
And third is the story of course. I started out with nature themed stories but soon branched out into many other areas because they are too many good children's books to stick to only one theme. Here are some of my categories:
The classic's of course. I find that classic's are harder to find at thrift stores. Maybe people like to hang on to them. What is your favorite classic children's book? I absolutely LOVE "The Giving Tree".
Children's book about my home state of Michigan! I discovered these at quaint little book stores and state parks and fell in love with them but always walked away because of the cost. Wouldn't you know it! I've slowly found them at thrift stores. Happy happy joy joy! This girl loves her beautiful Michigan as much as she loves children's books. And the two together make me very happy.
Photography children's books. My love of photography has drawn me to these books. Instead of illustrations they use real photography. So beautiful! And these books I found with the author and photographers signatures in them.... BONUS!
Silly books. For the longest time I passed on these books. But what child doesn't need some imagination in their stories? They've grown on me.
Children's books about history/art. These are some of my favorites. I will actually read them over several times. These usually sit on my coffee table until I read them before they make their way to the book shelf. I learn a thing or two myself from these books.
Christmas books! Wow, talk about beautiful illustrations in books. I'm very choosy about what Christmas books I buy and I have an incredible bunch of them. Last fall I decided I had too many so I went through them with the intention of taking some to the shop to sell them during the holiday season. You should have seen me trying to part with some of them. I could barely let go of any of them.
And of course my beloved nature themed children's books. Well, they just make me happy......
There are many more.... Dr. Seuss, Christian themes, poems, etc. I have slowed down buying them (OK, maybe I did buy 3 more last week) and I tend to be a little more choosy now that my space is running out. And someday my future grandchildren will have amazing books, but for now I have them just because I like them.
