For the love of books

Kaelin and I just finished reading The Velveteen Rabbit. What an awesome story. I had forgotten how great classic stories were.

One of my absolutely awesome friends, Lindy, gave Kaelin two different collections of children's books and children's animal encyclopedia *(about30 or so books). The books were copyrighted in 1953-1957. They are absolutely priceless. Kaelin was so engrossed in The Velveteen Rabbit. There were not very many pictures, so it forced her to listen to the story. She loved it. It made me think about how different books and stories are these days.

Here is a quote from The Velveteen Rabbit "He took the Velveteen Rabbit with him, and before he wandered off to pick flowers, or play at brigands among the trees, he always made the Rabbit a little nest somewhere among the bracken, where he would be quite cosy..." ---- brigands... bracken... those are big words for a children's story. The story is written with such vivid words rather than the vivid pictures you see today.

Now a quote from SpongeBob SantaPants (not exactly a classic... yet) "SpongeBob ran back into Coral's. "Stand back, every-one!" he announced. "SpongeBob SantaPants is here, and I've brought the spirit of Christmas with me!"... That evening SpongeBob walked home with Patrick and Gary. "Our work is done," he said. "We brought cheer and goodwill back to Bikini Bottom.""

Not much comparison. The SpongeBob book is shaped like a Christmas Tree and has bright, beautiful colors and little pop up pieces on each page. Entertaining... I guess (mainly annoying). The Velveteen Rabbit.... much more entertaining and educationally stimulating. So if you hear Kaelin talking about playing in the bracken, just humor her... we are broadening our horizons. Tonight we are reading Dr. Seuss's The 500 hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

Thank you Lindy... the books are going to provide years of enjoyment. What an awesome gift...