Since having Alanna, in fact since moving to Stafford i've re-aquainted myself with the library. I've enjoyed ordering books and devouring them regularly:)
Whilst my consumption of books has slowed in the last 9 months, my love of reading and books hasn't disappeared, and in fact i've probably got my 'fix' through borrowing books for Alanna. The library was a major feature of our new-mum social life. Bounce and Rhyme on a wednesday morning was just a part of it. I love finding new books for us to share, and for Daddy to enjoy reading to her.
Whilst looking at all the new books it's been great fun to see all the books that i remember reading when i was little, are still popular too. It's brought back some fabulous memories. I'm lucky that in our family books were always about. They were fun, they were treasured.
My sister and I shared them, we probably fought over them sometimes. I have vivid memories of books i read, library trips we made etc. Of course this was all before the internet was even possible. Wendy ran her own little library, complete with tickets and cards, and when we moved house and couldn't take all the books we had with us, i remember being quite upset that they would be given to two boys who probably wouldn't look after them in the same way.
The complete geek that I am, i can even remember where i was when i realised i could read to myself. without speaking out loud. LOL oh dear..
At christmas i asked my sister if she could remember a book we'd had.. i couldn't remember the title or the author, just that it was about a little girl and her teddy ans the publisher something to do with Golden. Being that much older she remembered more about it, and within seconds of googling on her iphone, there it was.. 'My Teddy Bear' by Little Golden Books. I read that book countless times and spent hours looking at the pictures (my favourite is the one with the little girl in the bath, for some reason the shape of the soap particularly pleased me!).
I hadn't realised until now, why I was so upset that the Booktrust funding had been cancelled. After all, i know that Alanna will always have books available to her. But if i have such warm, happy memories of a very simple book from 30 years before, (not to mention all the books and associated hours spent reading and re-reading later on) then i'm sure that there must be other little boys and girls who would feel the same when they get their books from this scheme, and the thought of someone missing out on that is really rather sad.
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