Ruby's Library

Honestly. It's getting a bit crowded on that little shelf! Not to mention the one downstairs! I love to read, love books, and am longing to share this love with our little Ruby Kate. I can hardly wait to read her Llama, Llama Red Pajama, or the Boyton books or Because You Are My Baby. I have a bunch of other cute bedtime stories, too, that I think Jeff and I will be fighting over to read to her! :-)

I have books for her explaining adoption, baby yoga, introduction to baby meditation, a baby Bible, baby Buddha bedtimes stories, baby signing, ABC's, numbers, fairies, animals, colors, educational books, books on children of the world, on different races and cultures, Thai children's stories, Thai/English bilingual books,  and a whole collection of Dr. Seuss. I even bought my 2 childhood favorites for her to read when she is older. A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. What can I say? I like to plan ahead! :-)

Now I gotta get serious here for a minute. I started researching another subject and thought I could use a couple books to help explain it someday. The subject is racism. I was glad to find books for children on this subject as a way of introducing it to them and to help them cope when faced with it. I mean, it's gonna happen. We can't protect them from every ignorant person, hard as we may try. I found so many books on this subject that my excitement to find good material was quickly dashed by the sobering thought that we NEED so many books on this subject in this day and age! How is it we still live in a world where people judge someone by the color of their skin? By what they look like or where they come from or how they dress or what they believe? Have we not evolved at all in all these years? It makes me sad to think about and yet I still believe there is much hope for a better future. I believe there has been change and maybe we aren't there yet...but it's getting better. All we can do is live our lives as best we can and try to teach our children the same. To love one another. Quite simply. Love and accept all others. 

Okay, serious mushy part over. On to shopping...

 Here are some great books I picked up:

The Colors of Us by Karen Katz - A sweet book celebrating the many colors we come in & the beauty of all of them. Karen Katz writes a lot of sweet children's book. My brother and Melissa got us 2 cute bedtime books by her, too - Counting Kisses and Daddy Hugs.

The Skin I'm In: A first look at racism by Pat Thomas. -  A more serious book and guide to teaching children how to deal with bullies and ignorance. It's really well written and depicts children from different races, cultures, and religions and teaches tolerance and love.

People - a lovely book about people and their different looks from all over the globe. Really a great classic book by Peter Spier. The illustrations show people from every walk of life...from farmers in the US... to tribes in Africa... and everyone in between. There are pages talking about jobs that people do all over the world, celebrations they have, games they play, what they eat, their languages, and even the way they write. (Thai script included!) Heck, there is even a page dedicated to just noses! Every different size, shape, and color imaginable! A GREAT book. Can't say enough about it.

All available on Amazon.com. Yes, you are welcome for my passing on more great things to shop for! But hey, these are actually necessary!