The best gift, the gift of literacy

Growing up, some of my fondest memories were of my dad reading to me.  I was too young to understand them, but he still read (and answered my questions) about books like Watership Down, Gulliver's Travels, and anything by Roald Dahl. When I got old enough, I'd read to him when he worked on his car. I still remember sitting by a tree one summer reading him Journey to the Center of the Earth while he changed his brake pads. This is a vast change from a kid that had to go through an extra year of school between kindergarten and first grade because she couldn't read (in my defense, I should not have started school at age 4).  

Now, I love books, as does Aaron.  The fact that we turned our front living room into a library should give you some semblance of that.  Some people are really hardcore about making sure that their growing fetus listens to music every day. Well, I prefer listening to audiobooks, so this child is going to be born with an appreciation for audiobooks already ingrained in her.

This made it all the much sweeter and more wonderful when, a couple of months a package showed up.  It was from my college freshman year roommate, Margaret, who recently moved to Georgia, and inside was a beautiful book (The Legend of Blue Bonnet which I hadn't read before, but loved).  A few days later, another package with another book (Guess How Much I Love You) showed up! Apparently the first two books were supposed to arrive on the same day, but our postal service it seriously sketchy (it once took a MONTH for a postcard to arrive from Oregon). Since then, almost every week a new book has arrived. When I was having a bad week, she sent You be You, and it cheered me immensely.

The collection below are almost all of the books from Margaret, plus a couple of Sandra Boynton (a personal favorite author I discovered while a nanny) books that my mom gave me, plus a few from other friends.  So far Ada is off to a great start.  I'd like to also point out that none of these books are terribly obnoxious to read many times over. I actually already have half of them memorized from when I was a nanny.

Margaret, I can't thank you enough for the thoughtful, and thought provoking gifts.  I love that I already have a collection of books for Ada that should last her through the chewing on books stage into an actual appreciation for literature.  Like both of us, I hope she can look back fondly upon some of these titles and remember them being read to her over...and over...and over (ad nauseam) as a small child.

Why yes, I did take this picture on a bed, and that *is* my knee.  Thanks for asking.  

What were your favorite books as a kid? What should we add to our collection?