Books, Books, Books

I was raised with deep respect for books.  Windows to another world, they were all to be treated with love and concern.  Though often like much loved teddy bears they were read so often the corners would fray and the bindings fail.

Fahrenheit 451 filled me with absolute horror at the mere idea of burning books.  It wasn't so much which books, but any book.  Intentionally destroying a book is a crime worthy of the worst punishment.

Even books that have been loved so much they are unreadable give me trouble.  Having 5 kids we have quite a few  books lovingly taped together, again and again.  The tape has tape on it!  (Ever try to tape a touch and feel book?)

Unfortunatly I also grew up not being able to part with a book.  Any and every book was kept, in hopes of one day owning a house large enough for a library.

The day I found "Charlotte's Web' after having waited for it to come in from the library, I realized keeping the books wasn't helping me or them any.  The day we bought "The Lord of the Rings" because we couldn't find our copy I knew something had to go.  (It takes to long to read to just borrow)

I still have quite a few books, more than I have room for.  Little by little I find which ones are worth owning, and which can be passed along.  In general I try to keep any book I know I will reread and want my kids to reread.  I do not keep the ones I read once, even if I want my kids to read them as well.

The kids shelves containd several Dr Seuss, some Beatrix Potter, and a random assortment of favorite reads.  Plus three shelves of books no one has felt like getting rid of.  Those shelves are the first to be purged when new books come into the house.


Someday I want to make a list of the books I refuse to get rid of.  I wonder if it would change over the years?  So far it is fairly constant, though shrinking.  So many of the books are still beyond even Dude's abilities.  (Heinlein and Asimov and the like)  Though he did read almost all of the Lord of the rings trilogy with his Dad.  Maybe I should see if he wants to read I robot.

This past week we did some major reorganizing and purging of books.  Mostly I got rid of some modern 'readers'.  The kids prefer libray books.  (I still have the early readers for teachingand several historical readers)

Linking to Hip Homeschool Moms to try and win a free program for my kids