It's December! I don't know about you, but for me it feels closer and closer to Christmastime every day. The candles in the windows, the bare bones of trees stretching out to the sky, the occasional delight of snow dusting the ground...and family gathering 'round. Hmm…family.
Oh, those people. You know them. You live with them. And you probably read around them. Maybe you frequently have your nose stuck in a book and look up to see your mom asking you pointedly, “please set the table for the fifth time,” or maybe you have an older sibling who leaves books lying around the house (which become your supply of reading material).
My family is like that, somewhat. When my sister and I were small, my dad read us the adventures, battles, fauns and beaver dams of The Chronicles of Narniaand the long, winding tale of one breakfast-loving unlikely hero in THE HOBBIT. The Little House on the Prairie series was my mom's charge, although I was exceedingly wistful about the Ingalls leaving the Big Woods. Recently we started to read ANNE OF GREEN GABLES...before the book got lost. (note to self: clean under bed?) Now we're old enough that we actually read and like some of the same books. (Who else has read THE BOOK THIEF? Is it fantastique or what?)
Some of it must be true for you, too, right? Even if it's THE CAT IN THE HAT, you've read together at some point in your lives.
So, a suggestion: make this a bookish holiday. (Wow! Shocker! Alert the media! This advice is being shared on a book-review site!)
Alright, alright. But seriously. You're going to be together for about two weeks during the holidays: no school, no nightly homework, no excuses. Everybody in your family will have to talk to each other...and really, family is such a huge factor in our lives that it is so important to talk to each other. So...why not talk about books?
My Handy Dandy Suggestions
- Share book recommendations.
- Read a story together. (*teenage groan* Oh, please. Just go with it.)
- Find out if your favorite holiday movie was first a book. (Think A Christmas Carol.)
- Go to the library.
- Give books as gifts.
And have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, everybody!
