One favorite book of mine that ends up as a gift at some point in all my little people’s lives is The Velveteen Rabbit. Of course, I have to give a stuffed rabbit with that one.

I love how books build memories. Each of my children has had favorite books and series of books through the years: The Foot Book, Goodnight Moon, I Love You This Much, My Side of the Mountain books, Little House books, Narnia. One of the hardest parts of clearing out clutter has been trimming our book collections. So many treasures and fond memories. SIGH, I miss those days when the children would all snuggle in bed in the morning and we’d read a story before we started our day and the evenings when we’d be reading before bed, reading “just one more chapter” before we put the book down. Listening to audio books in the van or at home is a favorite family pastime as well.

Now they do most of their reading on their own. They love books and will stay up all night reading at times. It’s hard to be angry when you share and understand their passion. Reading and imagination can take you away, make you think and help you see things in a whole new way. Guarding what we read and think is so important. I appreciate the insight and suggestions from others because it can be very difficult to keep up with all there is to read!

I guess the point of my ramblings is that books are an excellent idea for gifts because they are more than simply books. They build memories and ties that last a lifetime. Thank you for sharing some ideas for how to share them.