Books are woven into our everyday life. Someone is usually reading, often tucked into a story. It’s been a joy for me for as long as I can remember. I was the kid without a TV at home, except for the occasional Disney cassette on weekends. At times, I felt like I was missing out. Now I smile at the symmetry: we’ve created a similar rhythm for our own children.
We have a TV on wheels that we tuck away when not in use. We probably have too many streaming subscriptions, but no cable. And we reserve shows and movies for the weekends.
The love of reading is contagious. PLB has always loved magazines and long-form articles, but over the past two years, he’s read more books than in the entire decade I’ve known him. It’s all about the environment. As we slowly renovated our home, PLB designed open shelving throughout to accommodate our ever-growing collection of books.
We make weekly trips to the library. Some days we haul 50 books, and other times we pop in just to grab one or two. It’s never just for the kids…Pete and I borrow books, too. There’s something grounding about those visits; the rhythm of browsing shelves, discovering new titles, and leaving with arms full (or not) of possibility.
The rituals help, too. When the tooth fairy visits, she brings a book. On Christmas Eve, each person unwraps one book to read by the fire while nibbling on a few of Santa’s extra cookies. And every night before bed, each child picks a book. One of us reads to Louise and Winston, while the other tucks in August and then reads to Madeleine. It’s our favorite wind-down moment of the day, a time when we’re fully present, together.
There is truly nothing better than children's books. Each of our kids is at a different stage, so we cover a wide spectrum of stories. And more often than not, I find myself learning just as much from the books they choose as I do from the ones on my own nightstand, sometimes more.
I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorites from April…
Until next time, happy reading!