A Book A Day...

Was Banner Davut's love for books a result of nature or nurture? It seemed he had a natural inclination to books, but it was also nurtured. At the start of 2012, as Banner was turning 8 months, Kara made a New Year's resolution to read him at least one book a day. We often ended up reading many more than that, but this became a daily practice that continued through Banner's time on earth and right on through to his siblings today.

Kara wrote in Banner's journal as he turned 9 months, "You love having story time with me, and will often choose your books to play with, when given the option to play with any of your toys. You try to grab our books too--Bibles, journals, dictionaries, workbooks, magazines, textbooks, defters, anything!"

Kara also noted in the same entry, "I've had to take away your pop-up and peak-a-boo books and put them out of sight because you rip and tear it to pieces. You're just curious!" This explains why some of the books in Banner's Bookshelf may be taped back together--and these are the ones that survived Banner's childhood!

All the reading fostered Banner's love for books. When he was almost 20 months we recorded that when we read a book to him he would sometimes point at the page and say, "A-B-C-D!" He understood plurals and would say "two rabbits" if there were two in a scene.

I am thankful that Kara made this resolution to read a book a day with the kids and stuck with it. She still does an amazing job reading to our kids, including bedtime earlier this evening!

Do you have a "book a day" culture in your home? Read more for suggestions on how we make books part of the culture of our family.