books

So.  Just in case you didn't get the memo, we aren't friends in real life, we aren't Facebook friends and the only communication I have with you are these emails...my daughter had a baby on Friday night here in Ottawa where I've been the last couple of weeks.  He is perfect.

I've had a request.  In fact, I've had a couple of requests about this topic.  Books!  Bookshelves!

What do we DO about them?  Here's the good news. Homeschoolers are notoriously consumed with books and, hence, bookshelves.  Because we know that through good literature we grow the minds of children effectively.         
But we have to have some order with the books, no?

There are a few different ways to organize books, alphabetically by title or author, topically, by colour, size.  We could use the Dewey-decimal system.  But all of that is personal choice.  In our house, we organize by theme.  Historical fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, faith, family life. 
Saints books, science books, history books, story books.  Oversize books.

They get put away wrong quite often. 
That's okay, though.
Because perusing bookshelves is one of my favourite activities.  Anyone's bookshelves, not just my own.

Here's the tricky part of bookshelves.                                     
Keeping the crap off of them.

Sometimes we obtain books we don't like through book sales, gifts, donations.  And sometimes they are garbage.  And even if they aren't considered garbage by others, if you hate reading a certain book to your kids, get rid of it.  I don't want to cringe when my children bring me a book.  I want to love reading to my kids and anything that makes me cringe has to go.  Cases in point:  Berenstain Bears, anything preachy or "Disney-tized," Robert Munsch and others.  Those are just my opinions - don't rush out and give away your Berenstain Bears if you love them and don't cringe when your children ask you to read them!

So, please bear this in mind. 
"Crap" to some degree, is a relative term. 
Yes, there are books that are objectively crap.  But there is a lot of gray area, too.  Here is not the place for some huge discussion about what makes a book worthy of owning.

Don't own books you don't like to read to your children!  For reading to be a beautiful, life long, family activity that you work into every day of your life, read books you love.  Own books you love, pitch the rest. Someone else can and will love the books you get rid of.

If your child loves a book that you do not like to read, you can still get rid of it.  It's also perfectly okay to say, "Mama doesn't like reading that book, please choose a different book, that's one you can read (or look at) on your own."  If you own three or four hundred books that fall into that category, I would cull.  A Lot.

Here's an example of books that fall into that category in our house.  I really appreciate Tintin books and Asterix and Obelix, they are funny, my kids love them, they learn interesting facts through them, blahblahblah.  BUT.  I hate reading anything in a "graphic novel" format.  I don't even know why.  So, from the get go, I've always told my kids that they are welcome to have and read those books, but I don't read them aloud.  And that's okay. 
I'm a grown up so I get to do whatever I want.                                    Bwaahaaahaaa.

Break the job down though.  It can almost be a no-work job, every time you come across a book you dislike, read it if you have to, then quietly add it to your donation bag.  Or just break it down to the "drawer a day" system...one bookshelf a day or a week, even.

Some thoughts on bookshelves and library books up next.