Books, revisited

We moved into this house last summer and I am 99% unpacked. We got the last few carloads of boxes out of storage in January and here they sit in my not yet furnished formal dining room, behind Garrett.

During Spring Break, Erin wanted to unpack boxes to see what kind of treasures we might uncover. We found lots of treasures like Mommy and Daddy's photo albums from our wedding and honeymoon in Santa Fe, NM and baby pictures of Erin and Garrett. But the most exciting treasure uncovered was a box of books that was "between kids" last spring when they were boxed up, books too young for Erin, but too sophisticated for Garrett. Well, Garrett is a year older now and more able to appreciate these books. And Erin hasn't seen them for a year, so they are like new books to her. (I linked the books I could find to Amazon.com if you want to buy them. I'm not receiving money for endorsing any of these books).

Some of our favorite rediscovered books are "What Makes a Rainbow" by Betty Schwartz, about a little bunny that discovers the colors of the rainbow by asking all his friends. As you turn each page, a color ribbon is added to the rainbow until it is complete at the end of the story.

The "Thank You God for..." series. Each books thanks God for family, friends, the animals, and the world we live in. They are very colorful and very simple for 1-2 year olds. You can tell that the edges are well worn on this book. It has been read a thousand times. (I couldn't find them new on Amazon.com. They must be out of print).

Here is Garrett reading one of the "Thank You God" books.

Another favorite is Jamberry. A boy and a bear rhyme their way through all the berries. I still have most of this book memorized, "One berry, two berry, pick me a blueberry."

And Erin just loves this once hardcover collection of every fairy tale, nursery rhyme, fable, ever written. She's showing the story "Beauty and the Beast," one of her favorites.

Who knew that we would unpack a box of old books and spend an entire morning exploring and rediscovering them. Just goes to show you that if you can't buy new, stick it in a box for a year and it magically becomes new again.