"Let's go to the book store."
The 13-year-old and 4-year-old bounced out of bed before the sun was all the way over the horizon. The 7-year-old groggily stumbled out of her room shortly after her early bird brothers. "Is it time to go yet?" We still had to wait for the 15 and 18-year-olds to emerge from their hibernation. I took a bath, got dressed and piddled about the house for a bit. "Is it time to go yet?" Finally, I gave the three youngest permission to torture the two oldest siblings. Grumbling voices rumbled from the caves where the sleeping bears attempted to avoid the daylight hours. Eventually, well past lunch, I loaded up four out of five children and it was time to go to the used books store. No, the youngest child wasn't left home alone. Dad was tasked with entertaining the feral child whose last visit to the book store resulted in every single shelf label below twenty-four inches being removed. I have no doubt that there is a wanted poster in the offices of the bookstore with a picture of the child who I will not take to the bookstore again for a very, very long time.
As soon as we entered the store, the children scattered to different areas of the warehouse sized building. I didn't have to follow to know where they were headed. The 18-year-old went directly to the long aisle packed with row after row of science fiction books. Without me there to help him focus, he quickly retreated to the comfortable section of sci-fi series books that I consider the harlequin romance of science fiction. He happily picked up book after book to flip through and reminisce about reading it in the past or pull aside to consider for today's purchases. Sometimes I nudge him back to the overstimulating science fiction books that are less formulaic, but this visit I just let him make his own book choices. I wasn't in the mood for any Aspie drama.
The 15-year-old went straight to the manga section despite my request that she look at the art history section to make progress on her summer portfolio. From the manga section, she looked at the old posters and records. I cringe at the records she buys just to melt and mold into odd sculptures.
The 13-year-old went directly to the Redwall section just in case there was something he hadn't already ready a dozen times. After that, I directed him to the Newbery section. In the past few months, he has joined his older siblings in resisting my suggestions for books, clothing and pretty much anything. I still try with him, even though it would be easier if the reading level was clearly printed on all children's and young adult books. Eventually he settled on the sequel to some book he had already read.
The almost 7-year-old wandered to the colorfully illustrated books that are best read out loud. I understand her love of the funny and beautiful illustrations, but I nudged her to the chapter books anyway. She carefully picked up one book at a time and read a full page of each before deciding if it was a possible purchase today.
While the youngest shopper was carefully contemplating her choices, I searched for anything by Rosemary Wells to bring home to the 4-year-old. He loves her books the way my oldest children loved Dr. Seuss. I scored a Felix book and sat down to wait for the children to make their book choices. After a short wait, they all converged in a mob that might have been intimidating to the childless couples leisurely browsing the books. We checked out with a credit from our lst purchase and left the store with two new books for each child and no actual money spent. I hope we don't lose our beloved used book store to an over-zealous Congress. It was a good outing that we will repeat again in a few weeks. With or without the feral child.
There's nothing like buying a used book at a great price to feel like you've made a real steal. When I'm finished with one, I often feel the desire to pass it on to the next person, to keep the life of the book flowing.
A new book, on the other hand, ends up on my shelf afterward. It becomes almost a trophy.
Posted by: Nick Friedman | June 05, 2009 at 17:42 PM
It's hard to imagine any way in which books could be bad for kids! And if demand remains constant, bookstores (new or used) and libraries will prevail. Sounds like, for your family, a trip to the bookstore is almost a religious experience! I love that -- and hope to emulate it in mine!
Posted by: onlymom | June 08, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Oh how I love a good book store. What a wonderful delight to pass on to your children!
Posted by: bananas | June 08, 2009 at 22:27 PM
That over-zealous congress better sit on its hands and let us have some fun! I LOVE books stores! And I have two die hard Rosemary Wells fans, too!
Posted by: Lynnie | June 15, 2009 at 07:19 AM