Introducing kids to your favorite books is awesome. February 13, 2008

Lately Emma has been going CRAZY on what we call “chapter books” in our house; in other words, they’re not picture books, and require actual reading. I have always been a huge bookworm and remember the highlight of my week was the visit to the library where I would emerge hours later, slightly dazed, with a big stack of books in my arms that would promptly be devoured. Reading was my escape, my guilty pleasure, my habit, and I’m so thrilled that Emma is following in my footsteps. You know, instead of the OTHER tradition I could’ve passed down, like forgetting to shave my legs. Or something.

ANYWAY, here are a few of the books we’ve rediscovered lately:

The Wizard of Oz: She read this in one big delicious gulp, and now we’re looking for all the other Oz tales, of which there are many. I particularly remember one princess that had a dozen heads that she could switch around, depending on her mood. This is both useful and gruesome.

The Pippi Longstocking series: Mostly I like Pippi because she’s got red hair, and I have red hair. That’s where the similarity ends, but I remember reading these books and wishing that Pippi lived next to me so we could sail to the South Seas and get into trouble together.

That’s just this week. Next week, I plan on introducing her to The Little Princess, one of my favorite kids’ books of all time, and the Anne of Green Gables series, which I like to read again about every couple years or so. I can’t hardly watch the movies because the whole Matthew dying thing can send me into a tailspin, it’s the first really sad scene I ever watched in a movie. I just love that she’s enjoying these books, it’s super fun to watch her love them the way I loved them.