Book Worm

My daughter is a book worm. It isn't surprising -- I am always happiest with my nose buried in a book. Still, for a pre-reader, it is impressive. Hannah will spend, maybe not hours, but at least half-hours at a time (which is long for the toddler set) just "reading" either to herself or to her dolls. If she knows the story well, she will "read" a story that almost does the writer credit; if she doesn't, she pays homage to the illustrator with thoughtful observations on the pictures. Sometimes she will set up a story time and bring the whole crowd -- all three dolls, Cow, Elmo, maybe even Bear if it is a special day. The crowd will be put either around her white table or maybe lined up on the carpet, where they can all get a clear view of the pictures. Then, she will pull out at least 15 books to "read" to them. This part always leaves me feeling torn -- I love that she is so into books, love the fact that she is doing this all independently, hate having to put away half the bookshelf when she is done. I've tried imposing limits, like only five books, but five is easy to multiple, especially when you are not quite proficient at counting.... Anyways, she'll set them all up, gather her materials, and then proceed to amusing herself for the next half hour with various books. She has even taken to "reading" to her friends -- she got one note home from school saying that she "read" her friend Kennan a book at school. Of course, one time I did see her "read" to Kennan, a book she had never been read before, and Kennan was a bit upset that she didn't say the right words (he might be a bit of a purist when it comes to reading and story time).

Other times, she is looking for a little silent reading, like the pictures show. Then, she just plops down by her book shelf and goes through book after book (sometimes even putting away the books!). This works great during dinner prep time.

All of this convinces me that when we move, we have to set up her library in a more child friendly way. The teacher in me cringes at having the books all stuffed on a shelf, hard to access. No education class I've taken ever promoted how I currently have our books set up, but with cramped apartment living (and the prospect of moving soon) I haven't bothered to revise the system. Soon...

Speaking of moving soon, keep our family in prayer as we fly out West to go visit a church. We will be gone this Friday through next Wednesday, so I wouldn't even bother checking the blog till we are back. We are excited to have a chance to visit Whitworth University while we are out West and also see some friends that we haven't seen in way too long. Expect to see pictures in the near future of the girls proudly wearing some Pirate gear!