I love them!
I still remember that feeling of excitement as a child when my teacher put the new book order forms in my mailbox. I would scour them and select all the best books. Then I would formulate my strategy for convincing my parents that I NEEDED them. I usually won...who tells their child they can't buy new books to read?
I still feel this way. The prospect of books orders are still fun. I love it when I prepare one to send home with my students and they get excited to see the order forms in their mailboxes! I love it when my own children bring them home from their classrooms! I can always tell when they have brought them home because they will both be sitting at the kitchen table with their pens in hand and their book orders spread open in front of them, circling all the best books, just as I had done years before.
Fast forward a few (twenty-whoa!) years and imagine my excitement when I got a phone call from a good friend. She has started selling children's books and she called to see if I would like to host a book party. Of course, my immediate response? YES! We quickly worked out all the details, sent out the invitations and then I started eagerly looking forward to all the wonderful books that would soon be gracing my home.
The party was fun, the books were ordered and yesterday was the big day. Two big, heavy boxes carried by the man in brown arrived at my doorstep. Ahhh...I could almost smell them through the boxes! But, it was dinner time and there were three children gathered around my knees wondering about the contents of those big, heavy boxes. So...I stacked them gently in the corner of the living room and I waited. All through dinner. All through play time. All through bedtime routines. Still longer...through the cereal and bottle and rocking routine for the baby. And the whole time those two big boxes stared at me and called to me from the corner. Just like my books used to call to me from my mailbox when the book orders would come in!
Finally, it was time. I sat in the middle of the floor, with my scissors in hand, and gently sliced through the tape. I ever so quietly pulled out the paper stuffing, not wanting to wake any of the snoozers in the house (including the hubby snoring on the couch). I pull the books from the boxes and stacked them all around me, like a nest. All at once, I was in my glory.
I sat for an hour in the middle of those book piles. But more importantly, I looked at them all! It was terrific! All those smooth, colorful colors, all the bright pages with pictures to explore and words to devour. The smell of the new books and the crack of the book opening for the first time. I drank in every last book. Then, and only then, did I place the books into separate bags and prepare to give them to their rightful owners.
Books, books, and more books, I know the NEED to have them, caress them, smile, and cry with them. They are my addiction and I think you are a fellow addict.
ReplyDeleteI miss having book orders to fill out and waiting for that red and white Scholastic box and free shipping. I still have a few paperbacks from my grade school days, $.35 was the cost and that was pushing the budget for our family.
Oh the memories and joy of books you brought back!
BTW, thank you for your kind words on Stacey's post. I am honored and touched!
You are welcome! I have learned many things in the last 6 days, but the most important thing is about the need for good, positive feedback. I had no idea how much I needed it! I knew my students needed it but not the extent. I am thankful for that wisdom...it will make a huge difference!
DeleteThe comparison to a nest clicked for me. I could feel you slowing down and surrounding yourself with those books and soaking them all in. The way it was written, I slowed down my reading and felt it, as you were feeling it.
ReplyDeleteI love how you said you could smell them! I could almost smell them too through your story. It is always a good night when you can relish amidst a pile of something you love so dearly, those books!
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