If You Have a Garden and a Library, Part I

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." --Cicero

We had a splash of a time the other night when we celebrated Adrian's first birthday. At the library.

What better place to take a child, especially to the children's hour where warm, kind, energetic, and book-loving librarians read and dance and sing with the wee ones? What better place, next to parents reading to their children, fosters an early love for books that will then surge through their bloodstreams throughout their lives?

Going to the library is a regular habit for Adrian and Angelica. Mommy takes them to scheduled children's hours during morning times. Daddy takes them on Wednesday evenings to another. That's where they decided to hold the party, since Adrian's birthday happened to fall on the same day. "Why not have the party here?" librarian Miss Amy said. Miss Amy loves Adrian. She loves all the children.

So that's how we ended up having cupcakes, juice, birthday songs, Christmas picture book stories, friends and family, laughter and celebration all bubbling over together in a room full of books.

Even Nelson was there. Nelson? Nelson loves libraries, too. He's a neighbor, friend, and therapy dog who just happens to be very familiar with Adrian and Angelica's library. For he is part of a therapy program where children who have difficulty reading come and read...to him. Such dog reading assistance programs are designed to help children develop reading skills in a relaxed environment. Dogs, after all, make good listeners, are patient, and always give A's for effort. (If you're interested in reading about such programs, check out "Can a Dog Help Your Child Read?" You can find it here.)

Thus it was a special evening. As Cicero said, if you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. And the garden part? Stay tuned. There's a story there, too.

Any special stories, get-togethers, or gatherings that have come your way lately?

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Books on the Brain

"A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend." --Author Unknown

Lately I've found that I have books on the brain more so than ever. Along with finishing revisions (I'm this close--yea!), researching for the next project, and trying to make headway with the piles of books around the house yet-to-be-read, I'm excited by the variety of titles that have popped up on some of the family's wish lists for Christmas. Shhhh, don't give it away, but I've already hidden some away that are waiting to be wrapped. I also took a day to sort through groaning shelves for some gently-used books I could bear to part with, and headed  to Half Price Books to resell them (ahem, 65 books and magazines!) to make room for all those books I've put on my list.

And then recently I was entertained by a unique idea that popped up on other blogs--that of making a story out of book titles we find on our shelves. Christina Lee at Write-Brained called it "Titles that Tell a Story." Tahereh at T.H. Mafi called it "A Poem of Novels." And Jen at Unedited worked her magic with "A Story Out of Novels." And so I revisited my shelves and the titled friends that reside there, to try my hand at the exercise. (Thanks, girls, for the idea!)

So, although I'm a little late to the party, I came up with this:

THE LITTLE PRINCE finds himself on COLD MOUNTAIN, ACROSS FIVE APRILS and MISSING MAY until, like FEATHERS that are GONE WITH THE WIND, he learns that ONLY ANGELS CAN WING IT.

That was fun--want to give it a try? What story do you find in the titles on your book shelf?

"TV. If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six. Open your child's imagination. Open a book." --Author Unknown