Friday, September 24, 2010

Bring Your Favorite Book Day

Since before Duncan was born, we have filled his life and our house with books. When I was pregnant, we read to him every night; we started buying children's books, and we even visited a book signing so that Mo Willems could sign our copy of Knuffle Bunny. We have scarcely missed a night of bedtime stories, and I doubt a day has gone by that he hasn't had at least one story read to him. Duncan's collection includes beautifully illustrated books, like Kitten's First Full Moon, by Kevin Henkes, Jamie's copy of Where the Wild Things Are, and a copy of Goodnight Moon that Jamie bought for me before we were married. There are alphabet books, counting books, and award winners. More recently, we have been collecting chapter books, such as The Magic Treehouse and Junie B. Jones and my childhood copy of The House at Pooh Corner. Duncan has a love of books that would make any parent proud, and he delights (and also often frustrates) us be saying "Now read THIS book to me" as soon as we have finished the previous one. It is clear that we value the art of books and the act of reading.





So imagine my pride when Duncan chose Scooby-Doo and the Thanksgiving Terror to take to school today for Bring Your Favorite Book Day.


Like many other aspects of parenting, I am learning to validate his interests and realize that while he appreciates all the quality literature we have brought into his life, he also needs to develop his own unique identity. I'm sure that Scooby-Doo will be long gone when Duncan passes Knuffle Bunny Too on to his own children. At least I can hope.