It's Library Day!!

Although many of us look to Monday mornings with a wee bit of apprehension and maybe an extra cup of coffee, I'm happy to say that - at least so far - Monday happens to be one of the favorite days of the week for my little Kinder.  His fondness for the start of the school week is directly related to his new school's library.  Monday is Library Day!  

It's not that a library is new to him.  We've taken Little Man to our town's library many times.  It's more the idea that there is this beautiful, colorful, bright space just for kids his age that is loaded with all kinds of books - and perfectly sized nooks for sitting and reading them - right down the hall from his classroom that, for him, is beyond exciting.  The last two Mondays he has signed out a book and brought it home.  Each book has been treated like treasure and enjoyed every night with others from his own collection until it has had to be returned.  Every visitor to our home has been shown his book of the week - and some lucky folks have been asked to read it.  Others have been told about the stories, or by the end of the week, have been a kind audience to Little Man reading the book himself.  He is happy, he is proud...and he is sharing his love of books with anyone who will listen.

We talked about this last night as we were reading his newest find, Interrupting Chicken, by David Ezra Stein.  This book has made us laugh all week for so many reasons.  When I asked him what made him choose the book, he told me that he liked the little red chicken on the cover and he knew it would be funny. (The whole idea about not judging a book by it's cover, at least for now, seems to be lost on him.)  Funnier to me was the fact that the little chicken constantly interrupts her papa while he's reading to her...something that happens quite frequently here.  Little Man didn't seem to notice that as quickly as I did.  Hmmm....

Anyway, as predicted, the book was hysterical!  My husband and I both looked forward to story time each night as much as our son did.  Last night, as we said good-bye to the little red chicken and tucked the book into Little Man's backpack for the next day, we were all a little sad.  Yet, remembering the magic of his library, it was Little Man who leaped from the melancholia first to say, "Hey, tomorrow we can start reading a new good book that I will find for us!"  Then he asked, "Will other people know how good this book is?"

Yes.  They will if we keep sharing.  So, here we are.  In honor of the little red chicken, Little Man and I are adding a page to our blog.  Our Favorite Reads is where you can click and find pictures and descriptions of the books he finds and would like to share with a much bigger audience than the small, captive one we have at home.  Feel free to check in there from time to time to get an idea for a book that might bring as much joy to your home as it will have to ours.