Creaky Old House

I love our public library. Growing up, we did not have a library you could just borrow books from. We had one at school, but it was small, limited. When I arrived to the US, new doors opened up to me; the Library doors. I discovered a whole new world out there, where you could walk in, hand over your library card, and take as many books as you like, and walk out.

I did not come to fully appreciate the library though, until JR became interested in books. Of course I wanted to read to her, and read to her often. But we do not have room to keep buying books, and I did not want to keep spending money on all these books, when one day we will surely stop reading them. Enter the Library!

My friend told me she makes a monthly trip, takes a reusable shopping bag, and fills up. I decided to try the same. So, one Saturday, I left JR napping with her Baba and headed out to the Central Library. I felt like a kid in the candy store, except I did not have to limit myself, or pay for anything when I was done. The possibilities were endless. I started with a few, the ones that were on display. On the first trip, I came home with around 2 dozen books. We sifted through them, and ended up with a handful of favorite ones. Now, I brave the shelved books and browse them before I check them out.  Over the months, JR and I have come to have favorites that we renew, or when the renewal period expires, check out again. In the case of a couple that we absolutely loved, even purchased them for our library at home; you will hear about one such book in a future post.

This week's loot brought home a book called Creaky Old House. A family of nine, and a dog, live in the house. One of the boys describes the house, and talks about how a simple repair job turns into a major remodeling project; the door knob on the front door falls off and they fail to fix it. Suddenly, though, and while everyone is busy putting the remodeling ideas and blueprints together, his little sister, Lizzie, fixes the door. The book is filled with rich, new vocabulary, and wonderfully vibrant illustrations. The rhyming text, and I am partial to text that rhymes, flows easily and musically from page to page. It is not a short book, 32 pages, but you could easily skip passages without compromising the story.

You can buy it here, or check it out from your local library!