Not all Books are Created Equal

I placed a Book Depository order last week. I thought it would be sweet for Leo to give his new brother or sister a book to celebrate their arrival and for them both to gift each other a book for Christmas. While I was there I added another book for Leo's 2nd birthday to my basket. This then got me thinking that it was time to do a bit of a book cull as Leo has started to have quite the collection. Books belonging to me as a child, books gifted to Leo upon his arrival, for Christmas and birthday, or just because; it was adding up and really, the list of those we read again and again would number far less than the number on the shelves.  

I was also finding myself irritated by the number of books sprawled across the floor in Leo's room, especially after our bedtime reading. Although I encourage Leo to choose which stories he'd like for me to read, it was easy to see that having too much choice wasn't working for him. Before going to sleep he enjoys quiet books with soft slow rhymes and he'd often choose a book that wasn't like that, sit on my lap and settle in, only to get up and return to the shelf when I'd barely read two pages. We'd go through this process a few times before he'd return to the same books we've been reading every night since July. We've also discovered some books that I just don't like reading myself and while that might sound selfish, I know that if I'm not interested in the story we're reading then that will translate.

It may not necessarily apply to baby and toddler books but I think C.S Lewis was right when he said, 

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond."

In other words, if a book isn't worth reading twice then it isn't worth reading once.  

So one morning last week I pulled all the books off Leo's shelf, gave the shelves a good wipe down and began culling. I probably got rid of about 15 books straight off the bat, that for various reasons (poor translation, not an engaging story, ho-hum illustrations or promoting bad habits), weren't worthy of our family canon. I then began to organise the books into different piles. There were the books we always read before bed, the books that work better -at this stage- as a read aloud (I read aloud while Leo plays nearby), religious books, rhyming books we read every day and then books that I think Leo will enjoy more in the years to come. 

The books that I think Leo will enjoy more in the years to come I further divided and some were put out of sight while others were put back on the shelf in such a way as to discourage regular reading. I just know he doesn't possess the endurance for them yet but would be more than happy to read them on occasion. The bedtime books are easy to reach along with some lift-the-flap books he can 'read' on his own, the religious books have their own pile, as do those currently suited to a read aloud. The rhyming books we read every day went to Leo's bookshelf in the lounge room as that's where we do most of our day time reading.

It sounds super involved but I promise you this was an easy task that took less than an hour. I think Leo's shelves look far more inviting because of it and I love that Leo can still have ownership over the books he chooses for us to read to him. The added bonus is that every book Leo owns, we'd happily read and do read again and again. 

If you're interested, I've listed some of our favourites below.

Each Peach Pear Plum
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Kissed by the Moon
Dear Zoo
The Monk Who Grew Prayer
Spot Series
Wow! Said the Owl
Goodnight Moon
Where's My Teddy?
Koala Lou

And for further reading about reading, check out this article.
My favourite quote is:

"Parents regularly express concern about violence and death in books, about anything that could be considered scary, and they do an enormous amount of censoring at home. TV time is limited, junk food is banned. These are careful, concerned parents. But few seem equally concerned about the dangers of trivial stories and bad prose."