This is one new trend that I have to like. According to Springfield's News-Leader, the latest thing in baby showers is one in which everyone brings their favorite children's books as gifts.
A new shower trend, the book shower, aims to stock the new baby's bookcase. The theme is catching on with modern moms, many of whom receive several showers and get plenty of the nuts and bolts of babydom....
Susie Richardson of Urbandale, Iowa, hadn't heard of a book shower until her sister suggested throwing one for Richardson's son, Max, now 18 months old....
"When she first mentioned it, I thought, 'How weird,'" she says. "But it turned out to be wonderful. We have so many books, things I never would have thought to purchase on my own."
The best thing about the shower was the emotion and thought her friends and family invested in the gifts. Inside the front covers, many of the givers scribed short messages for the new baby. Mom and baby have discovered the notes as they've read the books.What a great idea! I hope this catches on and helps to create a whole new generation of readers. We've always kept a special bookshelf at home for our three grandchildren and, almost from the beginning, they have loved dipping into the books to choose some of their favorites for us to read to them. Now that they are a little older, they sometimes even ask us to read them a bedtime story over the telephone when their day is done. Starting life surrounded by books is a good thing.
I have been to many, many showers over the past five years that in the invitation it asked that you bring one of your favorite children's books instead of a card, which usually gets thrown away anyway. Therefore, you would write something to the baby inside the cover. I have loved this idea.
ReplyDeleteI have been giving books as baby gifts for sometime. I still remember many of the books I read to my children when they were quite small and I would want everyone to have that as a part of their family history.
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful. I love the idea of everyone sharing their favorite children's books with a new baby.
ReplyDeleteI often give books as gifts for children, but I love the idea of a shower or a birthday party that asks you to bring a copy of one of your favorite books...even if they can't read it until they are much older. And I love Joy's comment about writing an inscription...that would be a treasure later on.
ReplyDeleteProps to my first husband. He gets the same baby gift: The Collected Mother Goose and has done this since our son received a copy at his own baby shower back in 1984.
ReplyDeleteWhen I go to baby showers I always like to include a book in the present. But how wonderful that book showers are becoming popular. Hopefully it means a new generation of readers is being born.
ReplyDeleteSuch an excellent idea! Heh, I actually remember having 'Pat the Bunny' when I was a kid. It's one of the few books I remember from that age!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those ideas that you hear about and then wonder why it took so long for someone to think of it...just seems to obvious, doesn't it? You have to love this one.
ReplyDeleteIt is a lovely idea, and adding the inscriptions plus one's personal faves is really sweet.
ReplyDeleteI've been giving board books as baby gifts for quite a while now and my niece/nephew have gotten almost nothing but books from me for their 2 years/7 months of life. :) (Okay, they've also gotten lots of tiny clothes but that's because I can't resist the baby area at Target.)
One thing - please people, do not give Love You Forever by Robert Munsch! It is a) a cliche and b) not really a children's book, it's a sappy, weepy parents' book. Give the kid something fun to read!
What a wonderful idea! :D
ReplyDeleteTLLibrarian, that Munsch book must be awful. :-)
ReplyDeleteThese showers are right up your alley...tiny little clothes, tiny little books...
You gotta love it, Maggie.
ReplyDeleteIt a great idea to bring books to a baby shower. You always need books.
ReplyDeleteThe baby book showers are so wonderful. I reccommend using the site My Book Stork. It is a baby book registry that gives profits to charities. It is really cute and sends out announcements for you. That way no duplicate books. I have been to three showers now that used it :)! www.mybookstork.com
ReplyDeleteThe baby book showers are so wonderful. I reccommend using the site My Book Stork. It is a baby book registry that gives profits to charities. It is really cute and sends out announcements for you. That way no duplicate books. I have been to three showers now that used it :)! www.mybookstork.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, Maggie; that should be helpful to those interested in this kind of celebration.
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