I love that place! And I know you're supposed to be quite there, and walk the ailse slowly perusing, but it just makes me want to shout out "God Bless America!" that we have public libraries where we can read, read, read with endless rows of books, books, books. . . and its all for free! anyone can go there! Hallelujah!
I began taking my babies there when they were quite young. I'd load the twins in the double stroller and me in my big pregnant self would load up on the maximum amount of books they'd let me take home. I just wander the aisles and take home anything that looks interesting.
I've gone through the following book phases: cook books (from standard fare to Indian, Mexican, Vetnamese, Vegetarian), yoga, decorating, bird watching, healing with food, anything by Andrew Weil, Pilates, home economy, money management, child development, parenting, etc.) You'd think I'd have the dewy decimal system memorized by now!
We have kept this tradition where ever we lived. Sometimes my fingers just ache to pull a book of the shelves in Stanhope, NJ or Richmond, VA. It's not like they have extensive inventories or anything, they just became welcome friends, always with some little treasure to share with us. How I miss them!
One of the rows we visit each and every time we go to any library is what the kids and I call the "Fairy Tale" Aisle. This isn't necessarily in the kids section, though pictures are prerequisite (StarGirl, our detail conscious "artist-in-residence" has a particular fondness for K.Y. Craft). We love reading the same story from different countries and finding similaries and differences (it's comparative lit. 101 with Prof. Mom). After we'd visit Ms Library, we'd come home with our bag o books, park it on the couch and read. We'd read for a really long time, but the kids would always ask for "just one more" and I'd humor them (because I loved it as much as they do). It was very easy to get lost in time reading fairy tales out loud to the children, so much magic both in story and language!
So I ran across this quote from Mr. Albert Einstein himself recently and said, "Yes! We've been doing this for years now!" Said he:
"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."
Here's hoping Mr. Einstein's theories are both timely and relative!
I give you a short list of Fairy Tales and Folk Tales we've consistently loved and check out time and again. You may notice an emphasis on the feminine (the twins have a strong influence around here) but the boys and I like Big Men, Big Country so much we own it. This is a very small sampling of some of our favorites:
Big Men, Big Country
The Lady and the Lion
Sleeping Beauty
Twelve Dancing Princesses
Cinderella
Rapunzel
Baba Yaga and Vasillisa the Brave
The Littlest Matryoshka
The Talking Eggs
The Lady and the Lion
Sleeping Beauty
Twelve Dancing Princesses
Cinderella
Rapunzel
Baba Yaga and Vasillisa the Brave
The Littlest Matryoshka
The Talking Eggs
Do you have favorite read aloud books? Do tell!
5 comments:
Next time I'm down, you can read me a fariy tale and I'll teach you camera tricks.
Hey, Library girl, thanks for introducing me to the Pleasant Grove Library. I loved Fairy Tales when I was young too, and Greek Mythology, they're kind of fairy tales aren't they?
I remember going to the library with you many times in Lindon. Looks like you've passed your love of books onto your offspring, every time I'm at your house the girls are reading! I need to be better at going to the library. I'm getting pretty good at ordering books from the scholastic flyer Dallas brings home every month...
Looks like some very beautiful books you have featured here. It is definitely one of the highlights of the week, our trip to the local library. Perhaps because I have all boys, fairy tales have not been a particular favorite. We have definitely enjoyed Roald Dahl's books (the humor draws the boys right in), the Ramona books (very nostalgic for me), and the Harry Potter books (we've been reading them together in the past few months and are in the middle of book 5). Jared and I are hoping that Richard feels better soon.
Anne Marie, we are big fans of Roald Dahl, Ramona and Harry Potter, too! Richard is still sluggish, but thankfully on the mend!
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