For the Love of Reading

Books – they are my absolute favorite thing. Just being around books makes me happy, which is why I love to spend time in bookstores. As a young child, I was a voracious reader. I was that little kid that always carried a book – to the store, to my dad’s restaurant, even to church. And although my parents couldn’t read to me in English, they encouraged it all the time. My mom would take me to the library often, and I would come home very happy, with a bag full of books. It was all about reading for me.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I knew how important books had been to me as a little girl and I wanted to instill the love of reading in him as well. Before he was even born, I had purchased enough children’s books to fill an entire bookshelf. I read to him all the time. I would look for cues from him to decide what new book I would pick up next, whether it be a new interest in animals, cars, or other babies. By reading consistently with him, he was able to learn to count, say his abcs, identify colours and shapes all by the age of 3, as has his little sister. I pride myself in knowing that both my kids love books now as much as I do, as evident by the hundreds of books in our home. No matter how the day has gone, I know it will end with my kids snuggled up close to me, while we read our bedtime stories. They insist on it, and I’m glad they do.

Funny children’s books are very popular in our house – my kids love them. Our absolute favorite right now is The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers. Olive Jeffers is both the author and illustrator of his books, and he is hysterical. This book is so creative and so funny that my kids cannot get enough of it. In fact, we adore all of his books, and read them often. This particular book is about a boy who likes to eat books. He discovers that the more he reads, the smarter he gets. But when he starts eating too many books too quickly, both his mind and his body revolt. When he’s told that he has to stop eating the books, he realizes that he actually loves to read the books that he used to eat. The illustrations are perfectly matched to the words, and make my kids giggle hysterically. You will enjoy reading this book, just as much as the kids will enjoy listening to it.

I am always on the lookout for fun, new storybooks for my kids. As I mentioned before, I love to talk about books, and we have many favorites, so I think I would like to make this a weekly post. Hopefully it will give you and your kids some new books to look out for. Please leave us a comment and let us know if you’ve ever read this book, or any by Oliver Jeffers. I would also love to hear what you think about the book, and any suggestions you think we should check out.

Tagged as: children's books, oliver jeffers, reading, The Incredible Book Eating Boy