John loves books

About two weeks ago, I considered posting a question about how to get John interested in being read to. He had no desire to have books read to him, though he loved flipping through them on his own. Then, a week ago, something clicked. Now he brings me about five different books each day and wants me to read each of them to him five times. Some are normal baby books - "I can count!" or "Paddington's ABCs" or "Goodnight Moon." Some of them are normal children's books - "Curious George" is his favorite. Some are just books that my mom got at garage sales and I read him an abridged version - "Turtles and Snails" or "Flowers" or "The Children's Atlas of the Universe" has a short paragraph on each page. Since he wants to turn the pages before I am done, I usually just read a few sentences before letting him turn the page. He gets all the information each day since we read it through *many* *many* times. These books are designed to teach elementary school children about nature and I learn things, too. I used John's book about "Trees" to figure out what trees we have in our backyard.

At church yesterday, the nursery coordinator brought in new toys. When I picked John up after Sunday School, the lady watching him exclaimed, "He just wanted to read!!! I couldn't interest him in the new toys!" It makes sense - that's what he sees me and Dan doing all the time!