My two adult children love to read—my main claim to success as a mother. They grew up in a home surrounded by books and often opted to spend their birthday money on new volumes of their very own. I remember my daughter as a toddler “reading” with an adult and interrupting if a page were skipped. I knew I was raising another reader when my six-year-old son fell asleep in his bed curled around an open encyclopedia volume.
I also knew my daughter was marrying well when I discovered that her new in-laws had more books than I did!
So when friends and family began to plan her baby showers (yes, multiple showers), I was not surprised that two focused on her love of books. Guests were encouraged to gift children’s books that they loved to form her new son’s library.
Shower guests shared some touching stories about their own memories of reading these titles aloud to their children. One guest had to hunt down her special book as it was no longer in print but find it she did. My mother could not attend but sent a copy of Goodnight Moon and this note:
I have such wonderful memories reading Goodnight Moon to you over and over again. I know you knew it by heart but wanted me to read it to you anyway. Jennie, I’ll never forget the time I took you to Target and sat you in the cart. You probably were around three. I was shocked because as I pushed the cart along you were reading all the signs out loud! I was so impressed.
