One of the best pleasures in having grandchildren to me is seeing them enjoying reading. I love watching them experience the thrill of entering new territory and finding adventure through the written word. Now that the older ones have graduated from reading "picture books" to "chapter books," I enjoy the same ones they do.
George Bernard Shaw said, "Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself." That suits me just fine.
Along with this new-found pleasure came the need to find a good spot for reading. So one day when we had reached the edge of boredom, I suggested to one of our granddaughters (age 10) that she create a reading space. She was delighted to dig her way through a closet in our basement that held an accumulation of unnecessary collectibles. We had to do some discarding of things I thought I needed to keep forever (although now I can't remember what they were).
After eliminating some clutter, she set about creating the space. First she dragged out a baby bed mattress she found stored away, then she collected all the random pillows lying around and piled them on it. We rifled through another closet and found a desk lamp she liked. Finally she added the crowning touch, a sign that said, "LOLLIE'S AND LILA'S LIBRARY."
So we were set up for business operation...or so we thought.
Lollie's And Lila's Library
It wasn't long before the hideaway was discovered, first by the Littles (all six of them under age 6), and then by Hannah, our 9-year-old granddaughter, who is also an avid reader. She took things a step further by setting up some Library Rules.
She also devised her own system for categorizing the books and posting a checkin/checkout sheet.
Altogether, I'm not sure how effective their perfect library system is going to work, particularly when the ones most likely to abuse it aren't old enough to read the rules, but I applaud their efforts.
I remember my phobia of entering our school library because of the blue-colored hair lady who wore the pince nez reading glasses with a chain around her neck. I want our children to share the love of reading that I have. I want them to experience vicariously the worlds they'll never live in or know about otherwise. And it gives me unexpected delight to rediscover some of the treasures I enjoyed when I was their age--like the Nancy Drew mystery book, Little House on the Prairie series, Black Beauty...
I found the perfect quote by C. S Lewis to express what I've discovered:
"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty."
I've realized another bonus. If I'm curled up on the mattress with a dozen or so pillows and the closet door shut, I have the perfect reverse escape room! Thanks, Kids.