Day 13 - Today I am thankful for books!

Today I am so thankful for the stacks and stacks of books that I have!  I am also so thankful for the amazing library systems that we have in the United States.  This picture is my grandson Zeke at around 15 months old.  He already loved the library! What a blessing books are to me.  I know that I have posted about my Kindle and I DO love my Kindle!  But there is something about holding a book in my hands and turning the pages.   

Part of the reason that I am so feeling so thankful for books today, is that I have seen the power of a simple children's book in calming down a room full of overactive kids.
Even the most active little 2 year olds will sit quietly if you engage them in a story.  Today it was "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"!

If you are not familiar with this book (and I am sure most of my friends over the age of 40 have not heard of this book), go online and watch some of the videos and hear the songs from this book.  I don't know what it is about this book, but the kids ask for it over and over and especially love it when we play the music with the book.  For me, there are moments of sanity as the large group of kids are silent when this book comes out. 

Books in general are a big part of my life.  I was certainly one of those "reader" kids.  One of my earliest memories (and in fact one of the few memories I have of the town I was born in) is of the library.  When I was in first grade my mom insisted that I be given a library card and allowed to go to the "bookmobile" at school.  This was totally unheard of since kids were not allowed to have library cards until 4th grade!  My mom won that battle and I happily checked out books every week.  During the summer the bookmobile would come to our local shopping center.  I remember sitting on the sidewalk outside of the store waiting for the arrival of that large trailer filled with adventures, in books.  I still own a couple of the first books I ever had as my very own. Even though we lived in a large city, I often went to the "big library" downtown - all by myself!  When I was in late gradeschool, my mom would let me walk the mile to the bus stop, take the city bus downtown to the Library.  I would spend the entire day just looking at books and magazines.  Then, my mom would pick me up on her way home from work. (****I know that this sounds just impossible, but remember that this was the 1960's and it really wasn't that big of a deal to go on the bus by yourself!) I am so thankful for the librarian who directed me to series of books like Nancy Drew and also classics that I might never have picked up.  And I am so grateful for the discovery of "true" stories.  I read about Ann Frank and Helen Keller and Marie Curie.  And I still love those stories to this day. 

Yes, today I am thankful for books.  And so glad that my grandchildren have shelves and shelves of books and make frequent trips to the library! 

Jesus, thank you for books - for authors, and illustrators, for publishers.  Thank you for libraries and librarians.  Holy Spirit, thank you for using books to bring us information and joy!   Jesus, bless all of these special children I work with.  Thank you for providing "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" at just the right time!  Amen