That’s what happened with my new book, Animal Snuggles. Years ago, I saw one of my children nestled on my husband’s chest and said out loud, “That looks cozy.” I jotted a note about the scene in my writing book.
Years later, when I came across that note, I immediately recalled the safe, peaceful moment of cuddling that inspired it. A poem started forming in my mind:
Belly to belly.
Cheek to cheek.
Elbow to elbow.
Beak to beak . . .
These words were the beginning of the text for Animal Snuggles, which releases from Sourcebooks eXplore on November 7th, 2023. The book features 13 animal pairs showing physical affection: elephants, swans, penguins, kangaroos, dolphins, and more. Sebastien Braun’s adorable illustrations capture the tender bonds that exist between these caregivers and their young.
The otters on the cover are positioned much like the snuggle that inspired the book—belly to belly. The final spread shows human adults and children who are hugging “heartbeat to heartbeat.”
The child who sparked the idea for this book has now grown into a curious, competent teenager who is full of information about the natural world. I’m happy that the book contains information about each animal pair in the back matter so those who are interested can learn more.
I hope that readers will enjoy sharing this book. What’s more, I hope they do so while snuggled up with a trusted loved one. Moments like those leave lasting memories.
In celebration of all of the affection in our world, I am holding two giveaways!
Draw for bookstore gift certificates!
What’s better than buying a book? More books—for free!
Everyone who pre-orders Animal Snuggles can:
enter a draw for one of two $50 gift certificates. The winners may select their favorite store, and I’ll arrange for the gift certificate in the funds of your country.
receive a link to my online launch, which will include puppetry, music, action rhymes, and a reading of Animal Snuggles (available for a limited time).
Here is the link to enter this draw:
The deadline to enter is midnight (EST) on November 6th, 2023. One entry per person.
Teacher Giveaway!
As a teacher, I recognize all of the work and care that goes into making a classroom a safe, interesting place to learn, so I am holding a special giveaway for teachers.
Each teacher who pre-orders Animal Snuggles will receive:
a link to the pre-recorded online launch video for the book that you can share in your school at your convenience,
a curriculum extension activity guide with ideas for ways to use the book with your students, and
I’m grateful to be welcoming two new books into the world, both of which celebrate beginnings. Two giveaways seemed appropriate. Read on to find out how you could win a signed book or a certificate for your favorite bookstore.
Welcome Home depicts the joyful celebration surrounding the birth of a new baby.
The welcome begins with the baby’s mom and dad and expands to siblings and grandparents. Then aunties, uncles, cousins, and neighbors join in, and finally the circle widens to include the whole community in embracing this new life. Rashin Kheiriyeh’s exuberant art gives the book the expansive, cheerful feeling of a warm hug. It’s been a joy to sign this book for new babies!
“In this moving picture book in rhyme . . . an idealized and irresistible picture of community is formed, amplifying the book’s message of earnest affection and welcome.” — Publishers Weekly
First Morning Sun begins with a baby’s first day and traces the milestones she experiences as she grows.
We witness her first peekaboo, first word, and first birthday cake, then cheering her on as she moves into brave new experiences such as her first day of school. The story closes with the addition of a brand new sibling with whom the family will experience firsts all over again. Jing Jing Tsong’s illustrations capture the poignancy and wonder of a child’s early years.
If you share one of my books with someone, I’d love to hear about it! It’s always special to receive an email or see a post. Finding a review online is another wonderful way to know that my books are being discovered.
I think it’s important to celebrate goodness wherever we find it, and that’s what I hope my books will encourage.
As we enter this season of new growth, I’m wishing you everything good.
Aimee
Giveaways:
You’re invited to join in the fun by participating in these giveaways! (Canada and USA only)
First Morning Sun pre-order:
This book releases on May 3rd, which is perfect timing for a Mother’s Day gift. If you pre-order the book, please send me an email at this link. I’ll enter you in a draw to receive a personally inscribed copy of Welcome Home as well as a signed bookplate to place inside of First Morning Sun. The giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. EST on May 2, 2022.
New Books and Beginnings giveaway:
I’m holding a draw for a $100 gift certificate to your favorite store. There are five ways you can enter, and each of them will give you one entry into the draw (to a maximum of five). The contest closes by 11:59 EST on May 6th, 2022. I’ll draw a name and announce the winner here on May 7th, 2022. Entry options are:
Comment on a favorite early childhood memory on this blog post,
Sign up for my newsletter by entering your email address through the “subscribe” form at the bottom of this page,
Find the New Books and Beginnings post on my Facebook author page, be sure you’re following the page, and leave your comment about a favorite early childhood memory on the post,
Make sure you’re following me on Twitter at @aimeereidbooks, find my pinned tweet about this giveaway, and share your comment on a favorite early childhood memory,
Share a favorite early childhood memory on the New Books and Beginnings Giveaway Instagram post @aimeereidbooks, and make sure you’re following me on Instagram.
from You Are My Friend, illustrated by Matt Phelan
I spent some time standing on my front lawn last night, listening to a neighbor. The stress of the pandemic had taken a toll. I didn’t have answers for the thorny questions that troubled this person, and that was okay. We lingered while my dog played until the growing chill nudged us back indoors.
At the end of the conversation, my neighbor expressed gratitude for an increase in front-lawn visits on our street over the past year or so. “It’s something good,” said my neighbor, who made sure that I knew this observation was not meant to diminish the loss and uncertainty of these months.
I agree.
You may know of Fred Rogers’ advice for children when they encounter frightening situations: “Look for the helpers.” Fred was passing along his mother’s words when, as a child, he had heard scary news on the radio.
One reason I admire Fred Rogers’ work is that he told the truth to children. Fred’s advice was not meant to simply distract them from the fact that the world contains sadness. It was rooted in equally deep and, I believe, more compelling truths: our world is filled with kindness and we have the power to choose our responses.
Good people are everywhere. Thoughtful acts are woven into the fabric of our society, and we can pay attention to them. Cups of tea poured, hands extended, neighbors shoveling walks: these ordinary decisions to care for one another deserve celebration.
(3) tag me on Twitter (@aimeereidbooks) and use the hashtag #WorldKindnessDay, and
(4) tag me on Instagram (@aimeereidbooks), using the hashtag #WorldKindnessDay.
Each of the four options will give you an entry. I’ll hold a random draw for the two prizes on Sunday, November 14th and be in touch with the recipients to find out how you’d like your books personalized and where you’d like me to send them.
Holiday gifts
If you would like to order a personalized copy of You Are My Friend as a gift, let me know. You can reach me through the contact form on my website. I’ll be happy to personalize an inscription and send a copy out in time for the holidays.
Dawn Babb Prochovnic is the author of Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty?; Where Does a Pirate Go Potty?; First Day Jitters, featured in the award-winning book, Oregon Reads Aloud; and 16 books in the Story Time with Signs & Rhymes Series, including one title that was selected as an Oregon Book Awards finalist. Dawn is a vocal advocate for school and public libraries and was honored as a 2015 Oregon Library Supporter of the Year by the Oregon Library Association. She is a frequent presenter at schools, libraries and educational conferences, and the founder of SmallTalk Learning, which provides American Sign Language and early literacy education. Dawn loves to travel and has visited thousands of potties across the Pacific Northwest and around the world. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, two kids, two cats, and a feisty dog. Learn more at www.dawnprochovnic.com.
Please share about your experience of connecting with books as a child. What positive memories do you have?
What a great question, Aimee. I’m now flooded with positive memories of connecting with books as a child. I always had a supply of books at home, but my earliest book-related memories are associated with my Grandma Lynn. She lived in the upstairs apartment of a commercial building that housed the hair salon she owned and operated. Her building was on a busy street without a safe outside play area, so when I visited her (which was often), I listened to music (Sonny & Cher and Donny & Marie), and I read. I still have copies of a few of my most treasured picture books from that time. Two of those books, The Best Nest and A Fly Went By were likely rattling around in my brain when I wrote my book, The Nest Where I Like to Rest.
I also have positive memories of my elementary school teachers’ daily readings of beloved books such as, Where the Red Fern Grows, Old Yeller, Charlotte’s Web, and Harriet the Spy. One summer, I actually became Harriet the Spy … I carried my spy notebook with me everywhere so I could jot down my many observations.
Fifth grade was a particularly momentous year for me in terms of reading engagement. That was the year I earned the coveted Pleasure Reading Award in Mr. Snook’s 5th grade class. Mr. Snook ran a pleasure reading contest each year; the student who read the most books during the school year won the award. That school year, I started at one end of my school library and snaked my way around the room. I do not remember how many books I read or how far I got into the library’s shelves, but I do know that I read the most books of any student that year.
Dawn’s reading award
Tell us about your experiences of being an adult and reading to a child or children. What are your favorite aspects of sharing good books with kids?
Reading books with kids is sincerely one of my favorite things to do. I first got the “reading to children bug” when I taught my younger sister how to read. I have a distinct memory of the evening I patiently worked with her until she “got it.” I remember the glee on her face and the excitement in her voice when, as if by magic, she suddenly understood how to sound out the letters and read the words on the page.
Fast forward to parenthood about two decades later, and some of my happiest memories involve reading to my own two children. When my daughter, now in college, was an infant, I held her on my lap and read to her for hours. I taught her how to communicate using basic American Sign Language (ASL) signs before she could communicate verbally, and I have clear memories of her vigorously signing MORE! as soon as each book ended. As she developed a stronger and stronger ASL vocabulary, she signed along with key words in the story, and she made signs that matched with the objects I’d point to in the illustrations.
Three years later, my son came along, and the three of us would sit together and read for hours. He was less gentle on books than my daughter was (I didn’t understand the purpose of board books until he came along!), but he still enjoyed reading. I started writing my first picture books when my son was an infant. My book, See the Colors, first came to me as a song. I worked out the rhymes and “verses” during tuck-in time. Each evening I would sit next to my daughter and scratch her back while I rocked my son and sang the verses of my story/song. As soon as the kids fell asleep, I would dash into the kitchen to write down whatever words/verses came to me that evening.
Shifting to group settings, I especially love reading stories that have some element of repetition and/or opportunity for participation. For example, in my story, The Big Blue Bowl, there is a repeating phrase: “Fill it up, fill it up, fill it up, I say. And my friends fill it up with me.” I absolutely love when a room full of kids (and their grown-ups!) join in on that repeating phrase as I read the book.
My college-aged daughter is currently the summer nanny for two 4 1/2 year-old twin boys. I have a soft spot for preschoolers, and these boys are no exception. This past week my daughter brought the boys to our house for a couple of hours for a visit. The last time she brought the boys for a visit was about a month ago, soon after I had received my Advanced Reader Copies for my forthcoming books, Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? and Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? During that earlier visit, I read my forthcoming books to the boys. Imagine my delight when, upon their return to the house, they noticed the cover image for one of the two books sitting on the counter and called out the title by name, enthusiastically asking me to read them both books again … and again … Here’s hoping my test-market of two is a strong indication of how the books will do when they hit bookstores in the fall!
What are your thoughts on and tips for sharing good books with children?
I have three main tips: 1) Take your child’s lead; 2) Lean into pleasure reading; 3) Read during non-traditional times.
Children will tell you what they want out of a reading experience. Many kids want to read a story over and over and over again. Indulge them. Some kids like to fast-forward to their favorite parts of the book and skip the rest. That’s A-Ok. Some kids want to stop reading before the story is over. That’s okay, too. Some kids really get into “their part” in the story. Some kids really, really love when the reader uses a variety of voices. Some kids memorize the words on the page and will call you out if you miss a word. Other kids are so enraptured with the illustrations that they don’t care much about the written story and instead want to read the visual story.
If you take your child’s lead in each of these circumstances, you will naturally flow into my second tip: Lean into pleasure reading. Let kids choose the books and genres that they want to read. Let kid re-read the books they love, over and over again. Let kids read books that are “not challenging enough” or “not sophisticated/literary/honorable/etc enough.” Reading is reading is reading is reading is reading. When a child finds the experience of reading pleasurable, they will more likely become readers for life vs. seeing reading as a chore.
Speaking of chores, please resist the temptation to categorize reading as a daily “chore” or task that a child must accomplish. I understand that reading logs and assignments come from good intentions, but in my experience these tools hurt young readers more than they help them. When reading is viewed as a required chore (that is coupled with the added task of writing down what was read), reading becomes less pleasurable. What if we re-framed reading as a reward: “Yay, you! You’ve earned 15 minutes of time to yourself to read whatever book you choose!” “Oh, lucky you! How many chapters (or books) did you get to read this past week?” “Turn to your table partner and tell him/her something amazing about the book you are currently reading…” Doesn’t that sound more fun than “You are required to read for at least 15 minutes each and every day, and you must log the title, author, genre, and number of pages read for each day …”
My third and last tip is to find ways to incorporate reading into nontraditional times of the day. We often think of reading with a child as something that we do at bedtime, but bedtime can be a hard time of the day to allow your child (and yourself) the pleasure of reading for long stretches of time. What about “bathtime stories?” Or “books on tape while we’re cooking dinner” stories? Or “Storytime while we’re waiting for the school bus to come…” Think outside of the box. Bedtime stories are great, but there are other parts of the day that might be more suitable for reading with wild abandon.
Thank you, Dawn, for these great suggestions and for sharing your childhood experiences with us. I, too, loved the book The Best Nest when I was young!
Giveaway: Dawn is offering two prize options if you are the winner of the giveaway. You can choose an advanced reading copy of either Where Does a Cowgilrl Go Potty or Where Does a Pirate Go Potty OR you can opt to receive a manuscript critique from Dawn! Just comment on this post by Sunday, August 25 to enter.
It’s a pleasure to welcome Lizann Flatt to Good Books to Share. When I walked in the door for my first retreat with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Lizann greeted me with a smile. Her gracious welcome set me at ease. I’m grateful for the leadership she showed in organizing that retreat and many other events for the Canada East Chapter of the SCBWI.
Lizann is the author of many nonfiction books, short stories and poems for kids. Recent nonfiction picture book titles include Shaping Up Summer, Sizing Up Winter, Sorting Through Spring, Counting on Fall, and Let’s Go! The Story of Getting from There to Here. Her work has also appeared in Ladybug, Babybug, and Highlights for Children magazines. Lizann was formerly the editor of Chickadee magazine. Today she lives in rural Muskoka, Ontario with her husband and three children.
Please share about your experience of connecting with books as a child. What positive memories do you have?
My parents read to me at bedtime, and I loved that. Partly my good memories are from the together time, me tucked under a cozy blanket in bed, but it was also the way the stories sounded. I loved the language of them. I loved memorizing the stories and knowing what was coming on the next page. I loved thinking about the stories as I tried to fall asleep. Today I still keep a few of the books I had as a child on my bookshelf. I only have to open them to bring back memories of my early love of rhythm, rhyme, and story.
What are your favorite aspects of sharing good books with kids?
I think my favourite thing about sharing books with kids is the way the book can spark discussion or questions or connections. When I do school visits with my Math in Nature series I hear about the squirrels kids have in their backyards, or how they saw milkweeds. When I share my Let’s Go! The Story of Getting from There to Here kids tell me about the transportation vehicles they use or like best. One boy even told me about how he came here to Canada on a boat just like in my book. I think those connections are terrific. It shows kids that reading and books are connected with our lives.
Please share your thoughts on and tips for sharing good books with children.
I’ve always been glad I followed the advice I’d heard and began reading to my kids when they were babies. As in as soon as they were old enough to sit up in my lap, I read them short nursery rhymes or board books. And I read them aloud with feeling and drama like I really enjoyed them—because I did. Then, as they grew, I’d let my kids touch the pages—okay gnaw on the pages sometimes—and then help me turn the pages. Even my fidgety firstborn would sit through a whole board book and then later longer stories. For all my kids, once they voiced an opinion I’d let them choose the story we’d read. If they wanted more than one, they got to choose one and I chose one. Once they wanted to read chapter books or middle grade novels, I let them take the lead on what we’d read. That’s not to say I didn’t have suggestions, but if my suggestion didn’t grab them after a couple of pages, we moved on to something else. I always wanted reading at home to be fun. Now that they’re teenagers I can say, “Mission accomplished.”
How about you? What childhood books contained language that you loved?
Good news! Those who comment on this post will be entered in a draw for two of Lizann’s books. First, I am giving away a copy of Counting on Fall. Also, Lizannis donating a signed copy of Let’s Go! The Story of Getting from There to Here, which was selected by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre to be given to every Grade One student in Canada in the TD Grade One Book Giveaway.
To be eligible for even more giveaways by wonderful children’s illustrators and authors, sign up below for Aimee’s newsletter.
It’s a treat to have the warm and talented Toni Buzzeo visit Good Books to Share. Toni and I share a love of baby elephant stories. Just as Mama’s Day with Little Gray features a warm relationship between a mama and her son, Toni’s book My Bibi Always Remembers depicts a baby elephant and grandmother.
Toni was a high school and college writing teacher before she became a children’s librarian. Since she began to write for children in 1995, Toni has written 19 books for children and 11 books for professionals. Among these is the 2013 Caldecott Honor Book One Cool Friend.
Welcome, Toni!Please share about your experience of connecting with books as a child. What positive memories do you have?
What a lucky girl I was! I was born into a family of women who loved to read. I have wonderful memories of my Grandma Mae reading to me and talking about books with me. Those conversations opened a door for a shy child like I was, as you can see in this photograph.
In addition to the pleasure of being snuggled up next to my grandmother’s side with a book opened on our laps, I had the pleasure of accompanying my mother or grandmother to the public library every week. We always returned with an enormous stack of picture books.
Luckier still, when I was 8 years old, my town built a branch library just three and a half blocks from my house. For me, that was like Disneyland appearing in my neighborhood! I read my way through all of the children’s novels and the young adult alcove before graduating, at 13, to the adult books.
My life as a reader started at my grandma’s side and in my town’s libraries, and it has never flagged.
Tell us about your experiences of being an adult and reading to a child or children. What are your favorite aspects of sharing good books with kids?
Perhaps it was those many early experiences in libraries that led me onto my professional path, but I grew up to be a librarian! So, for me, sharing books with kids was my life’s work for many, many years. I started as a children’s librarian at a local public library and moved on to become a teaching librarian in school libraries. In both settings, I was always eager to share stories with mystudents.
A particular memory that still delights me is reading Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus to my students. No matter what time of day, if I student walked by my desk with that book in his or her hand, I jumped up, asked him/her to hand over the book, settled the kids around me, and launched into a raucous and lively reading of the book, complete with student-chorus.
How special it was, then, when my own books began to be published. (I continued to work as a librarian for my first two years after publication). Sharing my OWN books with my students was such a treasure. I remember a class of fourth graders quizzing me about the decisions I made in the plot of my first book, The Sea Chest (still in print a dozen years later) and the little kindergartner who picked up the rubber-banded f&g (folded and gathered copy) of Dawdle Duckling and asked, “Mrs. Buzzeo, how many copies of this book do you have to SEW TOGETHER?”
Please give us your thoughts on and tips for sharing good books with children.
What a pleasure it is to share my books now with enormous numbers of kids at school visits and reading festivals! My favorite way to share books is through puppets. I have a full complement of puppets for all of the characters of my books: Stay Close to Mama, No T. Rex in the Library, and Little Loon and Papa. I ask adults/teachers to select the actors for me (describing for each whether they will have lines to speak or special attitudes or actions) and then I read the book to the larger group and sneak up behind each puppeteer and whisper their lines or needed actions. The kids love it, the teachers and/or parents love it, and most of all, I love the fun of bringing my stories to life on the stage!
So whether you are a teacher, a librarian, or a parent, start building sets of puppets (even finger puppets work with small groups) to accompany the stories you share!
Thanks, Toni! How aboutyou? What fabulous memories of libraries do you cherish?
Connect with Toni through her website: website: http://www.tonibuzzeo.com/HOME.html
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Hélène Boudreau grew up on an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean but now writes fiction and non-fiction for kids from her land-locked home in Ontario, Canada.
Her picture book, I Dare You Not to Yawn, is a 2013 Parents’ Choice Award winner, a 2014 OLA Blue Spruce Award nominee, and a Crystal Kite Winner.
Her tween novel, Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings is a 2011 Crystal Kite Member Choice Award Finalist.
Please share about your experience of connecting with books as a child. What positive memories do you have?
I’m from a family of ten so books were kind of community property in our house, growing up. I remember, though, that my godfather sent me my very own hardcover Trixie Belden for Christmas one year. I cherished that book because it was mine. All mine! That feeling of ownership of a story, a character, a whole world, is what really influences me to write for kids.
Once I read that first Trixie book, I was hooked. We didn’t have a public library where I grew up but we did have a bookmobile bus that would come to our island every few weeks. I remember walking up and down that bus aisle, perusing the shelves looking for the latest Trixie Belden. Most of my friends were Nancy Drew fans but since receiving that book as a gift, I was Trixie all the way.
Please share about your experiences of being an adult and reading to a child or children. Last year, I was on vacation with my family when my picture book, I Dare You Not to Yawn was released. I dearly wanted to see my book on store shelves but thought it would be a long shot to find it in the local bookstore where we were traveling, so we surreptitiously went to the bookstore to browse and, lo and behold, my book was there in the children’s section. Even better—I found out the bookstore staff was planning to read it at the children’s story hour that weekend, and they invited me to read instead.
What a happy accident that turned out to be! Being able to share my newly published book with a story time full of inquisitive, lively toddlers was such a highlight. And seeing all the children there with a dad, or a grandpa, or a mom, or a family friend, reinforced the idea that when it comes to books and children—all it takes is an interested adult to put a book in front of a child and the rest will follow.
Please share your thoughts on and tips for sharing good books with children.
Creating a ‘library culture’ in your home is a wonderful way to foster reading in children. Library cards are free and most villages, towns, and cities have access to public libraries in North America. For me as a child it was a book mobile. For my children, we are lucky enough to have a wonderful library system in our area.
We make regular trips to the library and have taken advantage of their many library programs. Checking out lots and lots of books on a regular basis and just putting books within the reach of children and letting them choose is one of the best ways I know to foster a love of reading.
Libraries, for the win!
Thanks, Hélène. Check out Hélène’s fun picture book, I Dare You Not to Yawn, at your local library or store!
Are you interested in winning free, signed copies of children’s books like Hélène’s? Sign up for Aimee’s newsletter below.
I’m happy to welcome Rachel Eugster to Good Books to Share. Both of our new books feature warm relationships between mothers and sons and were inspired by experiences we had with our own children. Rachel and I have attended writing conferences together where we commiserate and share inspiration.
Rachel Eugster wears two professional hats: one as a writer and editor, and the other as an actor, singer, and music director.
Rachel’s first picture book, The Pocket Mommy, was inspired by the day when she dropped her son off at kindergarten and he announced that he wished she was tiny enough to keep in his pocket all day. The book was released by Random House Canada (Tundra Books) in August, 2013.
Rachel is also the author of Beans and Other Pulses, Fruits, Grains and Cereals, Seeds and Nuts, and Vegetables, published by Franklin Watts as the Ingredients of a Balanced Diet series. As a magazine writer, her focus has been concentrated on food, healthy living, medical science, and interesting people. She has also written articles for children on such fascinating topics as horse communication, the Robotarium, ringtones for leopards, reawakening volcanoes, and exploding toads.
A former editor of Walking magazine, Rachel has edited nearly every form she can think of, from fiction to poetry to medical journals to architectural writings. She particularly enjoys editing the manuscripts of writers for children.
In Rachel’s parallel career, she is a founding member of the theatre company Bear & Co. (http://www.bearandcompany.ca/) and the ensemble Dragon’s Tea Trio (with cellist Joan Harrison and guitarist Andrew Mah).
Born in one national capital (Washington, D.C.), Rachel now lives in another (Ottawa, Ontario) with her husband, two sons (when they are home from university), two cats, and a greyhound.
Please share about your experience of connecting with books as a child. What positive memories do you have?
That is as difficult as describing my first taste of solid food! Who remembers the first banana they tasted as a baby?
What was your first taste of solid food like?
Books have been a constant, as far back as I can remember. They were companion, refuge, entertainment, distraction, sustenance. There has always been one in my hand or within easy reach—and here is photographic evidence.
Nothing like a little philosophy before bed.
I don’t remember being read to, although I’m quite sure I was. But I do vividly remember being taught to read by my mother, whose hand-lettered cards and brilliantly conceived phrases rewarded decoding with a nugget of humor.
Thus, I entered kindergarten one of two children who could read. In one of my only memories from that class, Miss Bucket held up the book she was about to read aloud, and asked the two of us if we would read the title to the class. Painfully shy, I wasn’t confident enough to speak, so the other child (worse: a boy!) got all the glory, and I spent the rest of the day kicking myself for looking like a fraud. Shyness goes deep, and books were everything to me, as they are for so many shy children.
One important early gift was Bulfinch’s Mythology, from my grandmother. She, too, was a writer, and often asked what books I was reading. It took her aback when, at age of 9, I asked for Bulfinch’s. Her only condition was that I read it. Needless to say, there was a teacher behind the wish: ours had been reading from it to my class.
I kept my promise to my grandmother.
But I read everything and anything, and have never stopped reading children’s books. That’s less unusual for adults these days, but my mother used to say I was the only person she knew who read them “as if they were literature”!
Now that you are an adult, what are your favorite aspects of sharing good books with kids?
I don’t remember many picture books from my own childhood, and reading to my own kids as a young mother led to wonderful discoveries. Both boys are in university, now, but I still have most of the collection we accrued. How can I get rid of Goodnight Moon? Blueberries for Sal? Grandfather Twilight? Bea & Mr. Jones? Perfect the Pig?
As my sons grew older, I loved sharing books from my own past, as well as exploring the new things that were being published. We read everything, and even though they are very much children of the computer age, both of my sons still do.
The bedtime ritual of reading aloud that we established very early continued right up until my older son left for school. With four and a half years between the boys, it was sometimes a challenge to find things that would interest the whole family. Books from my past often came to the rescue: Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family, Tove Jansson’s Moonintroll books, Shirley Jackson’s Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons, L. M. Boston, Madeleine L’Engle, Susan Cooper, James Thurber.
Since my own book, The Pocket Mommy, came out last fall, I have also loved reading it to children in bookstores and libraries. Watching them sit entranced as I read, hearing them giggle in exactly the places that I think are funny—this is deeply fulfilling.
As an author visiting bookstores in cities far away from home, one of my best experiences so far occurred when a child who had just left the store pulled her mother back in so she could meet me—because she had recognized my book as one she loved from her school library. And this was only three months after it had been released!
Please share your thoughts on and tips for sharing good books with children.
Really, there’s only one tip to give: Read to them. Whenever you can. Wherever you can. Whatever you can.
Whenever means start reading to them when they’re really little—the earlier, the better. It also means read to them when they’re happy, when they’re fussy, when they’ve woken up or are about to go to sleep; whenever they ask, and at the drop of a hat.
Wherever means at home or away, snuggling in bed or while standing in lines, waiting in cars or sitting at the airport.
Whatever means anything and everything: Shakespeare, poetry, economics, history, mathematics, newspapers. Read them anything you love and believe in. Nothing you love will be too hard for them, as long as you are ready to answer questions.
Also, be sure to read for your own pleasure, and be seen to be enjoying reading! Make sure it isn’t just newspapers and magazines, either. Let you kids know, by showing them, that you, too, like to read books, whether in print or electronic form.
Great advice! Thanks, Rachel.
The Pocket Mommy is a perfect back-to-school choice. What other books have you found helped to ease the transition back into the fall schedule? Share your suggestions below.
As I’ve chatted with booksellers, teachers, and librarians over the past while, I’ve been reminded of the incredible gift you offer each time you place a good book in the hands of a child.
Beginner Books from Random House
When I was young, the small town where I lived had no bookstore. Fortunately for me, my family subscribed to the Beginner Books Club from Random House. I can still remember the feeling of anticipation that swept over me as I gripped a new brown package in my hands. I could hardly wait to smell that new book smell and turn the first pages.
The sparks those books struck ignited in me a long-lasting love of reading that has never been quenched. Sparks form when two objects connect in just the right way. I think they provide an apt metaphor for what happens when we place the right book in the hands of the right child at the right time.
from the Wikipedia Commons, photographer Gabriel Pollard
I still carry a sense of gratitude for the people who created those books and placed them in my hands. Someone wrote the words, perfected the font, and crafted the ad copy. Someone slid the books into their brown cardboard packages. Someone delivered them to my door.
Now, as I enjoy those same books with my own children. I realize more deeply the power story has to connect us with one another. We truly are shaped by the stories we share. I can’t help but hope that my own book, Mama’sDay with Little Gray, will be similarly cherished. That it will remind the children and adults who read it together of all that is good and fun and nurturing about their relationships.
copyright Laura J. Bryant
Because, yes, milk spills. Laundry piles up. Cereal gets ground into the floor. There is strife in the world, but there is also tenderness and beauty and caring that transform ordinary moments into extraordinary memories of connection.
I realize that you may never fully know just how the work you do will change people’s lives. Perhaps yesterday you sold a bug book to a future world-renowned biologist. Maybe tomorrow you will chat with the next Dr. Seuss. It’s possible that today you will recommend a book to a mom whose relationship with her child will be forever shaped by that story she’ll read night after night.
My basket of thank-you treats for booksellers at Random House
My wish for you is that you will feel a little of the joy and wonder that you create in the world as you foster connections that will brighten and warm people for generations to come.
Urve Tamberg didn’t realize that she wanted to be a writer until a few years ago. She was side-tracked for a couple of decades to pursue a career in marketing and business development in the health care sector. But the stories she had heard from her immigrant parents about the history, people, and culture of Estonia stayed with her. She was inspired by those little-known tales of stubbornness, ingenuity, and bravery, so a few years ago she began to write historical fiction for teens. Urve lives in Oakville, Ontario with her husband, three children, and a little black dog named Shimmer.
Her first book, The Darkest Corner of the World, is inspired by true stories of the Estonian people and their struggle to survive during the Soviet and Nazi occupations during World War II.
Welcome, Urve. Please share your experience of connecting with books as a child. What positive memories do you have?
Growing up as an only child, I loved books and stories. I won’t be cliche and say that books were my only friends; they weren’t. But I was the child who went to the library on a sunny summer day. My mother constantly told me to go outside and play. I had a plan to read all the books in the library, starting with the authors whose last name started with “A.” I’m still working on that.
I’m the child of immigrant parents, and they did not read to me (shocking, I know, but I think they were too busy earning a living). Before I could read, I remember making up my own story to go along with the illustrations in the picture books and then telling that story to my mother. Looking back, it was an interesting role reversal and one that captures the universal appeal of picture books. The illustrations are integral to the story.
One of my favorite picture books was Katy Did. (This dates me, doesn’t it?)
What are your favorite aspects of sharing good books with kids?
I have three children (teenagers now), and one of my favorite activities (and theirs) was to read to them at night. There is nothing better than curling up in bed with three freshly bathed toddlers in clean jammies, having them each choose a book, and reading the books to them. Our night-time reading session always went on for quite a while. They always wanted “one more,” and that request was almost impossible to refuse.
With my oldest, when she was just a baby, I would leave a couple of board books in the crib with her, and she would “read” by the light of the night light. She never had any trouble falling asleep. Of course, once she’d fallen asleep, I’d take the books out of the crib.
That is when my love of picture books really solidified. Each picture book was a marriage between words and art. And shhhh—don’t tell anyone yet, but I do have a couple of picture books that I am working on.
Please share your thoughts on and tips for sharing good books with children.
Reading to and with children is important, especially in this age of technology and quick reading (excuse me—just have to go check my Twitter feed). We all love stories, and I think children need (and want) to be exposed to different types of stories, different styles of writing, and different characters. It helps them start to make sense of the world and exposes them to the “what ifs” in life. And you never know what topic or story will pique their curiosity. Discovering new interests is the fun part!
