Book Worms and Book Ends
One of the things that I am most proud of as a parent is Bean’s love of books and reading. I started reading to him before he was even born. I’d read things out loud to him while I was pregnant at night when I laid in bed. When he was a newborn, I’d get him all snuggled up in his PJs after his bath and we’d read a little story even though he mostly slept through it. And as Bean grew, that continued to be part of our nightly routine. Every night Bean takes a bath, brushes his teeth, and then we read a book or two before going to bed.
And while reading to Bean is all well and good, it is his independent love of books that really makes my heart soar. Sometimes when I’m reading to him at night and he’s fidgety or doesn’t seem interested, it can seem like I’m fighting a losing battle with the reading. What would it matter to him if we didn’t read a book at night? Probably not much. But when I walk into a room and see him “reading” a book out loud to himself, pointing at the pictures and naming the things on the page, I realize that reading to Bean at night is like studying. In the moment he may not be retaining a whole lot, but it’s the long term impact that brings us back to the rocking chair night after night with our favorite books.
Bean and I are both lucky that our families are so supportive of reading, too. My mom recently made this gorgeous bookend send for Bean.
Now, Bean has a beautiful way to display some of his favorite books.
And Chris’ mom is just as encouraging. In fact, she feeds our literary habit. Jackie is a teacher and so whenever the book fair comes to her school, she picks up an armload of books to send to Beanie. Recently, she just brought him a whole set of Berenstain Bear books, which were some of my favorites as a child.
Bean’s favorite book she brought on her last visit was Bee & Me by Elle J. McGuinness.
Bee and Me is the story of honey bees and how important they are to our world because they bring us the beautiful flowers and plants outside. The illustrations in this book are gorgeous and Bean loves pointing out all the “fowwrrsss…” (flowers).
But his favorite part of the book (mine, too!) is the holograms. On each page there is a hologram so that you can make the bee move.
Bean sits there and flaps the pages of this book over and over again, making the Bee fly and dance.
There are lots of things about Bean that make me one proud Momma. But none quite so significant or important as his love of reading. That’s a gift that he’ll have his entire life and what better kind of gift can a parent give their child?
30 Comments
Ashley
I didn’t realize you could still get the Berenstain Bear books, I remember my dentist as a child always used to have these books in the waiting room….good to know for the future….
Nate's Mom
Seriously, Katie. Your mom needs to get herself an Etsy shop. I’d buy those bookends in a heartbeat.
Though Nate’s not talking yet, he LOVES to read. If I give him a book in his crib, I have enough time to take a shower. He flips the pages, he yammers at it, he finds favorite pages. He’s been doing this for months and I love it. He’s stopped wanting to be read to (too wiggly for that) but he’ll read to himself which is fine by me. Only two books have gone to the “book hospital.” I’ve got a lovely stash of clear packing tape for those emergency room visits….
Diana @ A Little Bit of Life
Can your mom please be a surrogate grandma to Jellybean? I don’t have anyone that crafty on either side of my family so I guess Jellybean will have to settle for the Target specials! Those bookends are gorgeous though. Tell your mom she is amazing!
I absolutely loved the Berenstein Bears books growing up. I once checked out every single copy the Brooklyn Public library had and my poor dad had to carry them home about 20 blocks or so.
Katy @ MonsterProof
The bookends are adorable! And so is Bean reading to himself! I was always such an avid reader, I hope I’m as successful passing it on to my future children, too!
Chanon
You must have read my mind because I planned on emailing and asking you what were some of Bean’s favorite books were. Lo and behold – a post on what I was going to ask! My son is 11 months old and I’m always on the lookout for new books for him. Thank you!
Katie
Hi Chanon – Bean’s favorite kinds of books right now are those small board books that have just one picture and one word on each page. He likes to point at things he knows. 🙂
Kris
Love the pics of Bean reading to himself. One of my all time fav’s are the Skippyjon Jones books. My boy found them after he started school, and still loves them. His fav at Bean’s age was Good Night Moon. Such a great love to pass on to children.
Jennifer
I gave away a number of books a few years ago to Children’s Hospital but I kept all my Berenstain Bear books. I look forward to the day when I can give them to my kids to enjoy. I’ve been told i have alway been an avid reader so i hope our kids are too.
Ella
Cute bookends. I started reading to my son as a newborn. Im sure he wasnt taking a lot in but he would look at the bright pictures and im sure my reading was soothing to him. He loves books now and will “read” ( he babbles away and get some of the words right) on his own. It makes me pretty proud too to see him reading on his own.
Renee
As a teacher, I cannot commend you enough for reading to Bean at such a young age. Many people don’t because they think it doesn’t matter, but it really does encourage a love of books. I am THRILLED when children love books at such a young age. It just sets them up for success in reading later.
And, the bookends are absolutely perfect and adorable.
Katie
As another teacher (high school english), fellow Katie and long-time lurker, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate parents who read to their children. In high school, I often have students who read on a 3rd-4th grade level, and frequently they will say their parents never read to them. I don’t think some parents realize the long-term effects reading has on their children. Although these kids are usually incredibly bright, they quickly fall behind in high school when every subject requires some amount of reading, and their parents didn’t set them up to succeed. I would probably give up if everything I read was in Spanish and I had to use my rudimentary skills to learn anything.
Anyway, thank you for setting Bean up to be as successful as HE chooses. I’m sure his future teachers will appreciate it!
Gale
I LOVE seeing little ones reading!! And to think he’s comfortable sitting that way – too cute!
Kate
I cannot agree with Renee more. My mom was an English teacher and read to me from day one. Needless to say i still LOVE reading- the best part about graduating college was that I now have the timeread books of my choosing! Some of my favorites growing up were Courdoroy ( a must read since Bean has a Mr. Bear!) and Very Hungry Caterpillar. I also loved Bernstein Bears lol- and I thought I was dated…. I’m saving a bunch of my books to read to my future children- especially the American Girl books.
Ann G-B
Connor is a big book fan too! I have Good Night Moon every night since he was about 6 months old… And he loves Happy Baby Colors!
Ann G-B
Make that 6 weeks old!
Katie van der Meer
Wow, those book ends are beautiful. And you mom made them? Could she make me some?
My son loves books. Right now he loves reading about potties… surprisingly you can find a number of different ones out there.
Kate
I love it! I love reading about what Bean is up to and seeing that it’s the same stuff Bridget is doing. It’s funny too that you have the same favorite books in your rotation that we do. The “Baby Colors”, “Animals”, and “Hop on Pop” are daily reads around here.
Some other faves are “DK Flaptastic Colors” which we picked up at Target a few weeks ago. She loves to lift the flaps and she points to all the objects while she reads. It’s too cute. Also “Little Hands Love” and “Little Feet Love” which are for touching and textures. She thinks it’s the greatest thing ever when we let her feel with her feet.
Just some other ideas in case you were looking for other things to feed Bean’s literary needs (because, ya know, it looks like he’s lacking) 😉
Sarah C. H.
Aww, I can’t wait to pass my love of reading onto my children. When I got in trouble growing up my parents would take my books away. I would get so upset. Whenever I think about my future children, I think about all of the books I’m going to put on their bookshelf and read to them every night.
Leah
Did she really MAKE those bookends? Beautiful. But the real reason I had to comment is because of the Berenstain Bears. I still sit down and read them sometimes. I love them.
Angela
SHE MADE THOSE?
Dude, thats amazing.
Marie
Wow! I love the bookends – your mom is so talented!
And I love this post as well. You might not realise it but you’re creating so many happy childhood memories for Bean through reading to him every night. One of my favourite & most cherished memories is of sitting on my grandmothers lap (she lived with us) and having her read to me. I loved it so much that this continued long past the point where I could read by myself. So thanks Katie, for this post, it cheered me up with some happy thoughts of my childhood 🙂
Megan (Best of Fates)
BOOK FAIR!!
Swoon.
Oh, the joy and laughter and happiness that fills my soul at the memory of book fairs.
I’m going to need a moment.
(Also, if I lived closer I’d steal those book ends. Then feel terrible. Then go to confession. Then be forced to give them back as my penance. Then decide to renounce religion and steal them back again because they’re so adorable they’re totally worth it.)
Sara @ embrylovescookies
Congrats Mom! You should be proud of Bean’s love for books. My 2-year old has recently become obsessed with being read to. He brings me book after book, and I try to stop what I’m doing to indulge him. It’s hard sometimes when I’m trying to cook dinner or something, but I never want to discourage him from books, ever. My 5-year old still reads a book before bed every night, although I think she’s mostly just stalling. By the way, “If you give a Mouse a Cookie” and “If you give a Moose a Muffin” are my kids’ favorites right now. They are so funny. Keep up the great work!
Nikki
Did you know that they have a “If you take a mouse to the movies” book now? I saw it at Kohls and had to add it to my library!
Meredith
My 10 MO LOVES Bee & Me. She loves the dancing bee the best. It’s so great to impart a love of books early on for kids. My little one puts herself to sleep at night “reading” her own books. We’ve recently discovered that she’s just eating them up – literally! She gnawed a book binding off completely. But she still loves to look at the pages. You’re exactly right Katie, and thanks for the reminder that even on those nights when it seems like a battle to get her to sit still for story time it’s so worth it when you see them gobbling up (figuratively now) their books on their own.
Nikki
Your mom is so talented! She really should sell those, I would definitely buy them! That’s so wonderful about Bean’s love of reading. I absolutely love to read! I hope that I will be able to pass my love of reading to my children one day!
Tan@tan/green
Love this post! Books are so important in our house and I worry that we don’t read to Pumpkin enough (because we don’t make it every night…). But through our own love of books plus book love from both sides I swear we have 100 books, reading level 0 to Stuart Little! Books are the beginning of a love of learning, I think…and you are right about that being an amazing gift from parents to child!
krista
We LOVE “Bee and Me” My kids also wiggle the pages to get the bee to dance. Both my kids love reading, one will sit (and always has) for stories, the other is more hands on and wants to help, wants to pick and choose her pages, but regardless, books are a huge in our house too.
Whitney
I LOVE THE BOOK ENDS! What a sweet gift.
Amy
Your Mum made those bookends?? Woah, can she come be my Mum?