Choosing Great Books For Children

We are all bombarded with consumerism on a daily basis. We are told by magazines, television, and other forms of advertising, what we should wear, what we should drive and what items we should buy our children. I have never been a person that finds it important to have a certain name brand. I look for clothes and shoes that are comfortable, high quality and affordable. I look at the price tag, the quality and the fit, in that order. If the item happens to be a popular name brand that is fine, but I do not go looking for clothing based on the designer. I also do not buy gifts based on designer labels. I buy gifts, especially for children, that will help to encourage family time and increase family values. Whenever I am invited to a baby shower I bring books for children as my gift.

The last baby shower I was invited to was for the daughter of a co-worker. I have known her since she was a little girl. She has been very pampered and is one of those people that is very conscious of designer labels. The invitation for the shower included the list of stores where the mother had registered for gifts. Each store was quite exclusive and expensive. One of my other co-workers asked me if I wanted to go in on a gift with her. She said that she had looked over the gift registry and most of the items that were left to purchase were very high priced. I told her that I was going to give books for children as my gift. I had already picked out several that I thought would be great lessons for this baby as well as the mother.

At the baby shower the baby was given many designer gifts. The mother was not very gracious when it came to gifts that were not on her registry. When she opened the books for children that I had given her she simply said thank you and reached for the next package. I had anticipated her disappointment so I told her that a very popular movie star that she likes very much, had mentioned in a recent interview that these books for children were what she reads to her baby each evening. At this information the new mother beamed and said that she would start reading to her baby that evening. The next day one of my co-workers asked me about where I read about the movie star.  I told her that I had made up the story about the actress, but I knew it would be one way of getting the young mother to read to her child. There are many studies that prove it is very stimulating to the baby to have an adult read to them at an early age. It is also good for the parents to re-read the simple values that are usually emphasized in good books for children.