Jim Trelease’s book really fueled the desire and love for reading to children that was already in me. Although I think a mom might find it a bit strange at first it would make a great baby shower gift!

I hope you get to see more of you on Feed Me Books Fridays!

@Heidi: I totally agree that it’s important they see us reading too. I usually do my reading after they are in bed or when I’m at the gym alone. But since I’ve taken to reading in the bathroom, they see that a lot more often, he he he!

@Janelle: I love Mother Goose books. We actually have several and I love them all.

@Greg: Digital readers are an ultra convenient way to keep books on hand. I use my iPhone for reading my scriptures when the kids are playing at the park and such. I also load all their favorite songs on it to entertain them when we wait places.

@Ashley: That’s a great way to describe it, that the books’ll be more played with.

I, too, would love to see a bookshelf (bookcases, even!) of books in every home. Rather than post our favorite books here in my comment, I’ll invite you over to our blog at http://blog.refrigeratorartist.com to check them out!

So glad I found you through Feed Me Books Friday. I’m now subscribing to your feed, so I will definitely be back!

-Jennifer, from RefrigeratorArtist.com

My wish for every house is to have less plastic toys and more natural toys. The best natural toy out there is a book!

A couple of notes: a bookshelf full of books can be exceptionally expensive. To do things on the cheap, public libraries are indispensable! You’re paying for them already, anyway, might as well make good use of them!

Another good way to get access to lots of good books on the cheap, though perhaps not appropriate for children below the age of 10 or so is this:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644523779&XID=O:sony%20reader:dg_read_gglsrch

There are various versions and various companies that make these devices (in our tech age!). You can check out ebooks to download to these devices from your local library. (based on this, I would advocate for a national public library, but this is neither the place nor the time). Want to buy a book? You can get the titles less expensively than a printed book…typically $10 for just about any book. Except for the hundreds of thousands of public domain books (think: classics)…they’re free.

Does the reader seem a bit pricey? Perhaps, it may take some time for it to “pay for itself”. Here’s a cheap solution: clubbing.com currently has one of these suckers as a prize for playing games (42,450 tickets). At 1,000 tickets per day, you can “earn” one of these in six weeks.

I won’t talk about what happens if it breaks and you have to replace it. But how about having a bookcase full (or perhaps several) right in your book bag…with the size and weight of a single paperback?!!