I wanted to add a few musings about this article we linked to before Christmas that appeared in the New York Times: Our (Bare) Shelves, Ourselves.
Only because I have been working on this here Library Project for so long, just so you can put something on those shelves (and relieve yourself, as one funny reader commented, of the need to “style” them).
I get a lot of email about homeschooling and how to go about it — so much that I can't even really settle on a definitive Ask Auntie Leila post to deal with it. It's not like cleaning your cast iron pans, where if you buy two things you're all set. (Although, modern life being in thwart mode, one of those things, the strong, flexible metal spatula, is incredibly hard to source. I know, because the one in the photo died shortly thereafter. I only had it for 36 years.)
Sometimes, I end up with this sort of a post, where I attempt the data dump and only end up making your head spin.
What I want to say is this: There is a way to relieve the burden on yourself to be providing the all-too-elusive “complete education” for your children at every moment. And it's the same solution to the opposite problem, which is resting too much confidence in that school you are sending them to — the one that you may be paying a lot for, but which simply can't give them the depth of experience with a life lived with books that they need.
For it's the home itself that is the learning environment; the medium (as well as the message) of their intellectual formation.
Specifically, for today's thought, the family simply must have actual books on the bookshelves!
(Or in a wooden box.)
The Times article makes this point:
Amazon Kindle’s Family Library enables two adults in a household to share content with each other and up to four children. But parents must explicitly select which of their books their kids can read. So much for the “casual atmosphere of living in a bookish world.”
Leaving aside the “up to four children” nonsense, and also the very real question of where those books are and whom they belong to, let's think about how much pressure it puts on you, especially if you are homeschooling (but again, even if you are not, because you're still not only responsible for educating your children, but undeniably you are meant to be their most influential role model), to in a sense come up with an ongoing, relentless “curriculum” in which you somehow give your child the right book at the right time — all the time.
It's not possible. It's not desirable. It's not normal.
Yet somehow, between the disappearance of bookstores, perhaps, and maybe even the ubiquity of that sort of new home that doesn't have many walls (open-concept living doesn't have much room for bookcases, I think), but most of all because of the socially engineered gap in the collective memory, I see a lot of parents attempting what I consider to be impossible: Raising children without books.
Sometimes I'm in a home where there is plenty of new furniture and everything is neat and tidy — but there are no books! And I truly wonder, “How is it that you are homeschooling? How do you do it?”
Think of it this way. If you have all sorts of books, you are outsourcing your task of teaching the children everything — which is a pretty good idea. What a relief! And that leaves you free to pursue your own interests. In turn, pursuing your own interests leads to a richer environment in the home, which furthers the education of the children.
I do actually think that it's possible to learn a lot in a serendipitous way online. There's no question that you can search for the answer to one question and end up in many possible different enchanting places. You can also (and especially if you are young) end up in a lot of desperately awful places — in a way that you simply can't in the home library (and couldn't back in the day in the public library, but that's another issue).
For a good fundamental education, one actually doesn't need a vast library, but one does need the habit of picking up a book. Reading doesn't necessarily come easily. The physical book has an allure that rewards the beginnings of the habit — there is a pleasure in the materials that the book is made of, its illustrations, its binding, that will be lost if everything is leveled to bytes, no matter how useful the virtual product can sometimes be.
I know the difficulty is in having the confidence to commit. Hence, the Library Project — and I discuss how to discern which books you ought to be owning, as well as which ones to avoid. Rosie has a nice post about a Saturday spent book-hunting — you'll get the idea!
It's true — you may end up with some awfully random volumes, like “Professional Piano Tuning.” And after a decade or two, things might not be in the right categories. But consider the advantage. At any given moment, your child can be reading about, well, any good thing. Anything at all.
Chere Mama says
I love this post!! This reminds me of our house. Books everywhere. It’s the reason we will probably never move again. = ) The last move, we had to box up around 150 boxes of books. EEEK. But I can’t give away a single one. I knew we were succeeding a bit at home schooling when my oldest kids brought their books everywhere to read “while they waited” at the dentist, the doctor, etc. Plus, the smell of an old book will never be topped. And illustrations! Okay…I will stop now. Loved all the pictures…tea set especially.
Jenny says
The smell of old books makes me physically ill — sneezing, headache, nausea. This started a few years ago and has put a stop to my book collecting. I’ve even had to pass along a lot of books to others to get them out of the house. Bummer….but I had to mention it since you love the smell.
KarenTrina says
Agree wholeheartedly! I have never understood the attraction of electronic readers, except for the occasional long trip where taking enough real books would be prohibitive. We, too, have shelves and shelves of books. While (I don’t think) we have “Professional Piano Tuning”, we do have some odd books, too. I home library really should be a must for a homeschooling family. I still believe in dictionaries (book form) and encyclopedias! Yes, I know those exist online, but there is just something about turning the pages of a book to look up something.
Woman of the House says
Hear, hear! Amen and Amen! I could not agree more. Knowing that my daughters were readers took a lot of pressure off of our homeschooling. One of my daughters (almost 19yo) has been ill for over two years and our homeschooling has been woefully curtailed, but she still reads a lot, so I am satisfied. I remember seeing a study years ago that said that children raised in homes with at least 500 books did better in school, were more literate, and were better educated than children who had fewer books in the home. The study emphasized that they looked at the sheer number of books, not content or even if they were read. Growing up in a bookish atmosphere made a huge difference. And 500 books is not even that many. They don’t take up very much shelf space.
Now I have the almost daily privilege of reading to my two granddaughters (3.5 and 1.5 yo) via Skype. They enjoy their grandma time and I enjoy introducing a new generation to my favorite picture books. (Current favorites are Too Many Mittens and The Snowy Day. 🙂 )
Woman of the House says
And I loved seeing the pictures of your shelves. I like to see what other people own. When we visit someone’s home, I can hardly drag my eyes away from their bookshelves. We have a book about piano tuning too, though not the same one as yours. My husband and I both studied piano tuning at one point. He has even done it for money. lol
Lisa G. says
Oh, The Snowy Day! It can’t be beat. The joyfulness which can be shown in the peak of a hood.
Maria says
No, the minimum was not 500 — that was the point of diminishing returns. The minimum number of books is 100, according to that study:
“After G.N.P., the quantity of books in one’s home was the most important predictor of reading performance. The greatest effect was seen in libraries of about 100 books, which resulted in approximately 1.5 extra years of grade-level reading performance. (Diminishing returns kick in at about 500 books, which is the equivalent of about 2.2 extra years of education.)”
Woman of the House says
I think that must be a different study. The one I saw definitely said 500 books. But the one you quoted looks fascinating and like it possibly went into more depth and looked at more areas than the one I mentioned. This was quite a few years ago (maybe a decade?), and there have probably been follow up studies since then. 🙂
Lindsey G says
Now if only I could afford the shelving for all the books we have, not to mention the ones I still want to acquire!! It’s hard to find second hand shelves, that are sturdy, for a good price. We are making do with a lot of pressboard at the moment (and books still boxed away), but I wonder how others deal with this everlasting problem of NOT ENOUGH SHELVES! 🙂
Mrs. B. says
Some people would say, build them! But if you’re like us and don’t have tools already, it can be expensive, especially if you buy tools that will then sit there unused.
We went through stages: when we got married and didn’t have much money, we just kept using my husband’s fake wood shelves from his college days, even though they were hideous. At some point I painted one and it made it less unbearable, but mostly they became part of the house landscape and we were ok with that. Once we needed more shelf room, but still needed something cheap, we went to Staples and bought a couple of office shelves. Again, not really beautiful, but the shelves were thick and they never bowed under the weight. Then we started checking Craigslist, and we scored some gems, but you have to be patient and persistent, and keep checking for new listings. Both our families are too far for us to ask for any help, but for some it might be an option to see if any relatives have anything they could give away.
What we have, even the real wood ones, is nothing to write home about, or nothing we’ll leave to the next generations, but we accept that we can’t afford to buy better things, and we do the best we can. Every couple of years we also have to rethink our furniture arrangement, because another shelf is needed: it’s a creative process we actually enjoy, though it makes my husband nervous that we have this ongoing need for more bookshelves and we never seem to be done 🙂
Woman of the House says
The great thing about bookshelves is no matter how cheap or ugly they are they always look better once the books are on them! 🙂
Elizabeth says
My mother put boards on concrete blocks. You can stack them up a few levels (careful not to go TOO high) and they’re nice and sturdy. And then you can store pens in the hollows in the blocks, for taking notes on all your books! 🙂
The first thing my dad told my husband after we got married was “Whatever you do, DON’T build her bookshelves! The library always expands to fit the available space!” My mother had expansive bookshelves in every room in the house, eventually, and she had no trouble filling them all up with all the fabulous older books the library sold at every book sale.
Erin says
Do you have any advice on how to catalog your home library? I have a 1 year old and we already have a massive collection of board books, picture books and chapter books. I’m constantly scouring thrift stores for more books, but more than once I’ve come home with a book we own! Or, worse yet, I’ve not purchased a book because I think we own it and then come to find out we don’t! I’m pretty familiar with the board books because we are constantly reading them, but not the rest of the collection. I’d love to have an easy way to keep track for myself and for the gift givers in our extended family.
Anamaria says
We do alphabetically by author within a category. It generally works well, though some of our nonfiction is not as organized.
Elizabeth says
If you really want to go crazy with it, try the website Library Thing. You can entire your entire library into a searchable database, so if you have a smartphone you’ll be able to instantly see if you have the book in question or not. It’s a pain to start up though, if you’ve already got a ton of books, and you’d have to keep it up-to-date for it to be useful.
Pippi says
I love Library Thing! Though I use it to keep track of the books we get at the library. We live in a small apartment so shelf space is a premium, but the library is easy walking distance, has an amazing selection, and we go at least once a week. So I catalogue the books we borrow, tag them, add a note, and it makes it easy to go back and get them again. Every season/holiday I check my tags and borrow all our favourites.And when the next child goes through a ballet/train/owl/cat/outer space/ dinosaur phase, I know which books to get to get started.
Erin says
Oh, yes! This is the kind of thing I was thinking of in my mind. I would love to be able to access it on my phone. Thank you, I’ll check it out.
Esther says
Auntie Leila, Thank you for a post about one of my favorite things – books! It reminds me of C. S. Lewis talking about growing up with a lot of books. My difficulty is where to put them all! We have bookshelves in almost every room, and are buying more books all the time. We probably have between 700-1,000 in a 2,000 sq ft home, and I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for having a tidy house with many books. Thanks!
Leila says
Esther, the number one tidying issue with books is to line up the spines — don’t shove them back to the back of the bookcase.
Other than that, yeah… books are cluttery — but awesome 🙂
Esther says
Great tip! Your post inspired me to organize our books – all of them. I love them more already. 🙂
Racheal says
My home growing up had two sturdy bookshelves of kids’ books and a wall of my father’s theology books. We supplemented by going to a local library every week. But there is something magical about having your very own copy of a favorite book. Now as an adult, I have collected over 2000 volumes and I made sure to display them in high traffic areas around the house so my kids can pick and choose on a whim. Thank goodness for library book sales and estate sales! We have the library of a king but in a tight budget over several years!
Lauren says
Books are great for kids who actually enjoy reading and learning that way. I am a big reader, but two of my kids (the boys, of course) have reminded me of the importance of learning through “doing”. My husband and father were not the best readers and don’t ever pick up a book. However, they know more than I ever will know- because they live life and learn in many other ways. Our current education system is largely based on reading- thus the push for kids to read earlier and earlier because all the classes are based on the children reading books, worksheets, whiteboards, etc. Every single subject is taught the same. Except for the rare science experiment. It’s so one-sided.
I see a lot of homeschooling parents struggle because they have a child who is more of a kinesthetic or auditory learner and they only know how to teach from a book. When the parent is unable or unwilling to adapt to the child’s learning style, it causes a lot of harm to the relationship and the parents’ ability to teach their children (in most areas). I think some of us who are avid readers don’t understand that there are people who do just fine in life who aren’t big readers and don’t feel like they are missing out by not reading a million books. Life experience and other people are a wealth of information, and for some kids, is absorbed better than reading from a book. I only say this because it can be very discouraging for parents, who have children who learn differently, to constantly hear the importance of reading.
Ellen says
I learned allot as a homeschooler through “chats” with my dad (who did read). He would tell me the topic, then talk about it, then ask questions and my opinion. Usually we took walks during this time, but sometimes I would hand him tools as he fixed the car.
Leila says
Lauren, our culture (or what our culture ought to be) is based on a collective wisdom which is located in books. There are certain books — and they aren’t many, really they aren’t — that children must know if we are to educate them! The whole Library Project is about this.
Elsewhere I write about all the various things children would want to do — I have posts about music and physical activity and so many things — but truly, a house with no books cannot support intellectual life — and thinking (as the article I linked to points out) that having the books online will suffice is terribly wrong-headed.
Some children turn out to be rather bookish, and some decidedly are not. Now that I’m on the other side of raising these two types, I wish to caution young parents about putting too much weight on the “learning styles” theory. It leaves out the need for connection to the past.
To be a free and good citizen, to grow up to be able to know how to act for the good and the common good, there are certain things one must know. To know these things, one must have the tools with which to connect to the past (what Dorothy Sayers called “the lost tools of learning” in an essay of that name).
Many have made the mistake of thinking that knowing those things means the same thing as becoming an intellectual and bookish person — but then many others (and many more, these days) make the mistake of thinking that if one is not to be an intellectual, one need not know the things.
Regardless of what the child ends up doing and how he approaches learning things —whether he becomes a scholar or apprentices to a workman — there are things he must know! Learning “styles” so-called have nothing to do with it.
I think the less scholarly the person turns out to be, the more valuable he will have found that those early exposures to certain fundamental texts will have been. The Bible of course. Then, the “1000 Good Books” — and then the “100 Great Books” — but if not the latter, then certainly the former, which contain within them the seeds of all that the world has to offer.
Again, I don’t suggest that the library need be vast! Our country was built on a citizenry that had what we would term a third-grade education (but what a third grade! if only!). The main texts were the Bible and Shakespeare in the 19th century, among those whose letters we treasure from the Civil War. In past Library Posts (linked in the post above) I go into which books and kinds of books (nursery rhymes! fairy tales!) I think we ought to be treasuring in our very own homes.
Lauren says
I think we could agree on many points. we have books available, but not the cluttered library many have. Plus we rotate or use the library instead of collecting. We do use books. However, I notice you jump to having the books online. If your argument is ebooks versus physical books, I agree people shouldn’t do away with all physical books and go solely to ebooks. I think a little of both and moderation is fine. I just prefer physical books myself but end up with some ebooks because of cost. That said, while books and writings are a great resource to connect us to the past, so are people. I just responded to another comment and will end up repeating myself, but I made the point Joni think books and reading are replacing human interaction for some, and it is not healthy. If people are building relationships with family and people they will learn their wisdom. Interviewing people, especially grandparents, is great for many kids. Yet, young people are segregated from elders, especially at school, and don’t get the opportunity. They are often forced to be with peers their own age and miss out on learning from those older or teaching those who are younger. Wasn’t the readings this Sunday about the different body parts and how they work together and are all needed? We learn from each other. Some read books, some talk to people or figure it out for themselves.
Lauren says
I mean think about it…until recent history most everyone was illiterate. Yet, they handed down wisdom from generation from generation without books. We know from history it is possible.
Leila says
Lauren, I get the feeling you are arguing against people out there who are not represented in my post. Maybe you should find where they are and argue with them directly.
I’m not going to agree that illiteracy is a viable option!
Where wisdom was handed down in illiterate cultures, you find that the culture was unified. That is not the case with us. We sever our ties with the past when we don’t give our children the gift of reading and of books.
Not to put too fine a point on it, the way that tyrants gain a hold on people is to sever their connection with their past by removing their books. In Communist China this was accomplished by “modernizing” the writing system. Boom, in one generation you have complete loss of memory.
In ours, it’s by removing access to old books and to physical books.
You are concerned about homeschooling moms and their stresses, and of course, I am too, which is why I post here on my blog. My concern is that books are being edged out in favor of toys, activities, and a reliance on the cybersphere. That is what my post is about.
Since I have a multitude of posts accessible to anyone that encourage all sorts of learning opportunities and activities, and since anyone who knows my writing knows that I encourage running, jumping, conversations, apprenticeship, music, and hands-on learning, I’m not really worried that I am over-emphasizing the importance of books here.
Karen says
Leila,
I’m coming to this conversation a bit late, but I hope you can still respond! I completely agree with your point about the culture being unified during the times when wisdom was passed down orally. I am a huge book lover and I’ve amassed quite a home library for my family, especially because we homeschool. I’ve noticed that in certain homeschool philosophies (namely Waldorf and hard-core Thomas Jefferson or TJED) there is an emphasis on oral storytelling with the very young as opposed to reading out loud from books. I’ve not read any of Charlotte Mason for myself, but I heard quoted that she also was not a fan of books for children under age 5 or 6. I believe that the Ambleside list for youngsters is rather short for that reason. Yet, most Charlotte Mason homeschoolers that I know have tons and tons of books for their babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Leila, I guess I’m asking what you think of books for the very young vs. oral stories. Is it possible to overdue it with books for our youngsters?
Thanks for another wonderful topic!
Karen M says
May I suggest that Charlotte Mason did not have the plethora of young children’s books with excellent illustrations that we have 100 years later? I am not a good story teller, but I am good at reading aloud and putting the right amount of emotion and voices into a story for the littles. The tiniest tots enjoy hearing the same story read each day and knowing which animal, for example, is in the illustration on the next page. Choose lovely books instead of Baby Einstein and I think you will be all set. 🙂
Lauren says
I never said people should be illiterate. My point was that we can swing from one end of the spectrum to the other- and I see it happening in our culture. My comment wasn’t necessarily to argue with you, the author, but to give encouragement to other readers and commenters who have discovered God has a different path for their child.
Karen, good point and question. That’s the sort of direction I was going, but maybe wasn’t articulate enough in my comments.
Audrey says
Thank you for this! We are big readers, individually and as a family through read-alouds and are so excited to see our kids turn to books when they just want something to do.
But…we’ve had trouble recently with a determined toddling climber and page ripper. How did you protect books from little ones before they gain the ability to be gentle with them?
And how do you gently help precocious readers understand that there are books they may not read yet, or that they must read with a parent? This is something my own parents (surprisingly) did not do a good job of, and I ended up reading some adult books at far too innocent an age.
Leila says
Audrey, yes, this is a vexing stage. Some littles necessitate a quick cleaning out of the lower shelves altogether! We put toys there for the time it took for that one to learn…
And just put the more mature books up higher. I have a post about how to get the children into the habit of checking with you (in a very natural way) before they read something: http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org/2013/07/library-project-should-parent-or-child/
Anamaria says
Audrey, yes, this is a vexing stage. Some littles necessitate a quick cleaning out of the lower shelves altogether! We put toys there for the time it took for that one to learn…
And just put the more mature books up higher. I have a post about how to get the children into the habit of checking with you (in a very natural way) before they read something: http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org/2013/07/library-project-should-parent-or-child/
Emily says
Besty’s Busy Summer! Raspberry aid! The summerhouse! 🙂
Sarah says
How about one of these spatulas?
http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=62804&cat=2,40733,44734
http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=72310&cat=2,40733,44734
Not cheap, but might be worth it if they are exactly what you need.
Marie-Claire Oman says
I love Lee Valley! The quality of everything they carry is always great.
Leila says
Yes, those are the types! But with shipping, a bit pricey 🙁
I will keep looking, but thanks!
Melissa D says
Love this post.
I’ve been thinking about how much I read on Kindle now, despite owning a gazillion “real” books — mostly because I tend to read at night, in bed. It’s a totally different experience, even though the books I read are good ones. On shelves, we have loads of great and good (real) books for everyone, but I find it hard to sit down and read during the day. I think mostly it’s due to the guilt I feel at sitting and reading when there’s laundry to be done and So. Many. Floors. to be swept. The kids read tons, and we read to them aloud as well, so they’re firmly on the reading train….But I feel that my reading time has become almost furtive. Am I the only one who can’t seem to sit down and just read? (Before kids, I was reading a book every day or two. I’m nuts.)
Dairy gran says
My husband and I both read on our kindles now. I love books, but the print can be enlarged and so much easier for older eyes! I also like the built in light on my iPad kindle. I now borrow lots of books from my library on my kindle. Love that. I still love a”book”, it’s like comfort food for the mind.
Melissa D says
I love my Kindle for plane rides… what’s worrying me is that it’s just my default reading mode. And even then I can’t seem to read during the day.
Leila says
Melissa, it could be a Lenten practice — serious here! — to carve out “reading time” during the day and just… sit and read.
Even with a mess around!
What do you think?
Mrs. B. says
You mean we’re allowed to think that’s penitential???? I’ll take it!!
Lauren says
Thank you for your emphasis on physical books! I am a minimalist (because I have often struggled with housekeeping), so used to just go the library for classic books every 3 weeks that I put on hold ahead of time. It was a good system but another mom reminded me of the importance of having shelves of books avail for your kids to grab like a little “book thief”.
I have a different question regarding schooling. I appreciate the homeschooling articles because the catholic circles we are in, are very pro-homeschooling. But for our personal family our local small town public school has been very good for my individual child and our family life. I still supplement a lot with reading aloud, catechism, chores to instill virtues and am very strict given their ages (5, 3, 2, 2 months). Anyway there kind of a lack of articles on catholic blogs about how to create a catholic home for your school aged child based on the collective memory?
Leila says
Lauren, everything I say here on the blog — with the exception of making a homeschool binder, I guess 😉 — is for moms who send their children to school as well.
That’s why the category is “education” and not “homeschooling.”
No matter what, we — and ultimately, only we — are responsible for our children’s education! The environment we make at home is decisive for their formation.
Lauren says
Yes agree with you on education as the responsibility of the mother, regardless of school type. Thank you for intentionally writing posts that apply to all catholic mothers! Your blog has influenced my mothering in such a huge way over the years.
Libby Jane says
Is that a little closet with bookshelves? How lovely! Does it get used?
Elizabeth says
Shelves in the closet! A happy thought indeed!
🙂 (Sorry, I simply couldn’t resist.)
Amy A. says
Nor should you! 🙂
Leila says
Libby Jane, you mean the picture with the bookcase at the bottom of the stairs? That’s actually in my kitchen, opposite the back staircase. If you look at the next picture (and any other pictures in my kitchen facing the pantry), you might see where you are…
That said, I do have a closet with bookshelves in it… in the den… 😉
priest's wife (@byzcathwife) says
I went on-line and bought my old set of encyclopedias ( 16 volumes- Golden Book Encyclopedia- copywrite 1960) for my 2 youngest 8 and 6 when boy asked me how long a great white shark was- I refuse to google everything…. but I wouldn’t want a modern, adult encyclopedia set in his hands just yet
– a little tip- if you have room, make half the children’s cloest into a ‘book nook’- pillow on ground, a fun ‘secret’ pace to read
Ruth Anne says
Love the closet book nook idea! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Belle says
My parents had a “if you can reach it, you can read it” policy which basically meant we could read any book we could find on the shelves. The books more geared to our age were kept at our respective heights. (Of course once we read all of those, we started to climb on chairs and step-stools to reach the harder/more mature books) They always told us that we should come to them if we had any questions about the things we read. Whenever there was something my brother or I were really interested in new books would start to “magically” appear on the shelves. It was wonderful!
Ruth Anne says
Actual books, YES! And I wish our home had more wall space for shelves, that is one thing we’re desperately short on.
I remember once a few years back going to a neighbor’s house for a birthday party. There was *something* not quite right about the apartment. I mean, it was clean and the furniture was fashionable, as was the art work… But it didn’t hit me until after we left that there was not One. Single. Book. (or even bookshelf) in the whole place. Nothing. There may have been a few issues of vogue laying on the coffee table. But, my mind was completely boggled how you could actually live without books.
Stephanie says
AMEN, AMEN! 🙂
Polly says
This is where I sigh contentedly and pick up my sewing because oh yes, we’ve got it covered. In fact I have been considering my plan for fourth grade for my oldest child, and have decided to just do math + reading through the home library. I have an extraordinary collection of books, many of which were passed to me by a bookish English teacher great-great aunt, many were my grandfather’s, several were my grandmother’s, a few were my mom’s….you get the picture. Some are first editions, so we’re careful with them. We have wonderful classic children’s books, and we are working our way through them, but I think next year it will just be Home Library Books & math. It’s a liberating plan.
Two points: 1) I think you’re right about the open floor plan issue. Our house has one (it was my mom’s house–we would never have designed it this way, and didn’t really move here by choice..we moved here to take care of my little sister after my mother’s sudden death when my sister was in high school)….and I have become adept at finding nooks and crannies for bookcases. We finished our basement a couple of years ago and had built-in bookcases crafted and installed, which has helped so much. But just this weekend we decided that we are going to build a bookcase for each child’s room (actually, our son will do most of the work, with our supervision) because….you can never have too many. And my son’s ‘little boy’ book arrangement is no longer large enough to hold his rapidly-expanding collection…… and 2) you’re so right about the houses with no books! It’s disconcerting! I have a relative with a pristine, gorgeous home. Nary a book in sight. Maybe a few in the children’s rooms….and that’s it. It’s like the parents don’t read! Books are cozy!
BridgetAnn says
Yes.
I once told a visiting friend who was admiring our bookshelf that it was our t.v. (which we don’t have 🙂
Karen says
Children need to have books available in their home, and children need to see the adults in their lives reading. They should also have books read to them. Children who lack these things are often not ready to learn to read when they begin school. I am a reading specialist, and I deal with these children every day.
To Lauren, who commented that her boys do not like to read: Have you thought of having them tested? They may not like to read because they have a challenge like dyslexia. If, as you say, your father and husband were not good readers–well, they may have had the same challenge. Dyslexia tends to run in families.
Lauren says
Nope, it is not a learning disability. They read fine, it is just they simply don’t enjoy it. Just like some people don’t enjoy geometry, or physics, or history. Yet, there is a push for our children to get good at *everything*, and that is not realistic. Also, there are studies that show when reading/literacy skills increase, spatial skills go down. Some people need to put their efforts into spatial oriented fields. There are also studies that show the earlier kids read, the worse they are long term in reading compared to those who learned later, because early on it is often memorization. Again, I think the big push early on in schools is so teachers have it easier by just requiring the kids to read. I have a neighbor whose child is in public school. Would you believed in many of her classes there’s is little to none oral teaching? The kids complete and get all their assignments online in Google classroom. And read their books to learn. Reading, like anything, can be done in excess. I think it often substitutes real life personal interaction and communication in our modern world. I say all of this to the homeschool moms who feel they are doing something wrong or failing their kids just because their kids don’t enjoy reading, because there is so much emphasis on it these days, almost to the exclusion of other things. When I was in school the time spent on subjects was pretty even. Now, in elementary school, most of class time is spent on reading and math. We are actually failing those kids who learn differently and have different skills if we don’t foster those skills but instead pressures them to conform. I just want to tell those moms of not do interested readers that their kids will be okay.
Julie says
Just my 2 cents: if a child does not enjoy reading on his/her own, it doesn’t mean that he/she doesn’t like books. My first started reading at 4 and is rarely found without a book in hand. Subsequent children have struggled with reading (even at a very late age) and I don’t push them too much. But they all enjoy listening to books being read – fiction, non-fiction, biographies, etc. My favorite times are reading to them, but they also enjoy listening to books on tape while building with LEGOS and riding in the car.
Leila says
Karen, yes — and not just any books, but a certain kind of book — the kind that opens you up to the other kinds. I wrote about that here:
http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org/2013/07/library-project-should-parent-or-child/
Good point about eyesight. Not every child ends up being bookish, but often those who really resist reading are having serious eyesight issues. It’s important to go to a good optometrist (not ophthalmologist unless the optometrist sees disease) to get a good assessment. It’s also important to have the right editions of books. Some cheap paperbacks are never going to be printed right for some eye issues.
Kimberlee says
‘…ongoing, relentless “curriculum” in which you somehow give your child the right book at the right time — all the time.
It’s not possible. It’s not desirable. It’s not normal.’
Oh Leila you crack me up! I loved this post at the title. Fabulous. And no one can say it like you. 🙂
PS we all loved the peek at your books! You could do a link up of folks’ bookshelves…
Leila says
Kimberlee, a linkup of bookshelves is a good idea…
Stephanie says
Yes please!
Cynthia says
Too true! I regret not having a set of encyclopedias, but I think that I need to find more bookshelves before I can add one. Online research is fine, but children aren’t going to accidentally get caught up reading about Einstein when searching for what an emu is when they google it. We have a wonderful library, but a home library is a great remedy for boredom and a gap filler for those areas your curriculum is deficient. Would I have known who George Washington Carver was if my mom hadn’t had a book about him on our shelves? Nope.
Janelle says
Actually, we follow rabbit trails all the time while researching online!
sibyl says
One very simple word of advice when it comes to picking good children’s books — does it appeal to you, the adult? Do you look at the inane illustrations and read the dumb words and think, “I can’t believe this got published”? If so, it’s not a book you should own.
Also, stick with the “published before 1960” rule of thumb. In fact, probably before !945, if you’re looking at chapter books.
We have so many beautiful picture books, and now my youngest is 7! She is almost done with them! And my heart is really sore, because it will be years before we have any grandchildren, if ever…
Suzette says
I could be way off here, but the largest obstacle with keeping quality books that we do have is finding quality bookshelves! Our pressed wood bookshelf that was pressed upon us (haha, pun intended) as a “gift” is sagging and scarily unsteady and unfit for the toddler swarms. I do find nice wooden ones at “antique” stores here in Louisiana, but the ones at thrift stores are usually pressed wood. Anyway, the ones that Rosie and her husband built look quite lovely. I guess we just have to bite the bullet and get to building. Nothing like a bookshelf that custom fits the needs of the room and people using it. 🙂
Tanya says
We recently closed a doorway in our living room (and my husband built a gorgeous built in bookcase!) so that we’d have more space for books. We live in a smallish home with few walls for books but I fit them in every place I can. In fact I’m working on clearing out more clutter to make room for more books. Because you can never have enough. 🙂
Jenny says
I have such a problem with bookshelves. I really don’t know where to put them. Open floorplan, few walls, small rooms. I’d love to have someone walk through with me to help me decide where bookcases might fit. I have a hard time seeing it. It’s so frustrating.
Antonella says
Hi Jenny,
as a lover of books AND open floorplans, I’d suggest to create dividers in big rooms by coupling low bookcases (back to back) so they are accessible from both sides. You keep the light and airiness of the no-wall with a lot of storage for books. Just my 2 cents.
In addition you can build shallow bookcases that frame doors. Great for paperbacks.
Hope this helps 🙂
Lisa @ 6andahalfhearts says
Great post! And I whole-heatedly agree! I was home-schooled myself – yes way back in the day. And when I finally entered high school for grade 12 the teachers all marveled at my general knowledge. I can attribute all that to my love of reading that I inherited from my parents and from hours spent at the local library and reading.
We in turn are homeschooling and my kids in turn love to read and we have books galore, but somehow we still don’t have enough. 🙂
June says
Ohh how I loved this post!!
I’m excited to slowly build our home library !
We homeschool our 6,5,4,3,1 and one one the way!
We are just finishing The magicians nephew as a family. And I just ordered and was flipping through our first children books
Pear peach plum and Mother Goose by Gyo Fujikawa!!
Michelle says
We are surrounded by books at our house and I have to beg and plead with my daughters to read. It is so disheartening. I love to read and they never even think to pick up a book outside of their schoolwork. Any tips from experienced moms out there? Our biggest enemy seems to be (big surprise) the kindle which is used for anything but reading.
Esther says
Screens are a big distraction (the biggest in my experience!). Having set days/times when they’re allowed on helps a lot. If they know that’s not an option, they’ll have to choose another activity (and it may be reading! :)). Our library has a summer reading program that gives rewards for hours read. I have copied that idea in the past and done it year round for my kids. I try to be enthusiastic and talk it up. If there’s a good movie adaptation it might be fun to have that to look forward to watching after reading the book. Don’t be discouraged! 🙂 I’ve found that it’s a habit, kind of like the child who doesn’t want to eat anything you fix, but with persistence and encouragement on your side, one day he’ll shock you by eating it with relish.
Anitra says
I love books, but we are long past out of room for more physical books (We actually had to *sob* get rid of a solid wood bookshelf in the kids’ room after our 3rd child was born). I’ve been adding to my Kindle library like crazy for a few years… and this year, my 7-year-old was gifted her own Kindle for Christmas (the kind that can only be used for reading).
I found that the Amazon “family” system is workable, but slightly annoying… I just dumped ALL of my not-inappropriate books onto her account! Much like the graduated shelves idea. She’s started reading brief biographies on all the presidents, simply because it was there. 😀
We also frequent the library, and I try to gently steer her out of her comfort zone, suggesting books that she probably wouldn’t pick up on her own. Her little brother helps here; he’s 5 and doesn’t truly read yet, but he picks up all sorts of interesting books to share, as long as they are full of pictures. Last time, he chose a book on “Animal Behavior” and this time one that contains several fairy tales told in graphic-novel format.