Dear Abigail

Abigail,

I decided today that I wanted to write you this letter to talk to you about books.

I was inspired to do this at some point this afternoon while we were driving around town and you were sleeping in the back seat. I started thinking about the books that you like, and then I started thinking about the first books I remember reading and loving.

When I was little, the first book I read by myself was called Stone Soup. I remember being so proud of myself when I finished it, and my mom made a really big deal out of that accomplishment. And rightly so.

Your uncle Michael and I read a lot of Bernstein Bear books - those are about a family of bears that get into all kinds of shenanigans, and sometimes they teach you how to handle real life situations too. As I got older, I went through a phase where I loved horse books and I read this whole series called Thouroughbred. I remember carrying those books with me everywhere. I sold them at a yard sale eventually - and I almost cried when somebody bought them. I remember going up to the lady and telling her that they were really good books and I hope she enjoyed them. In hindsight, she probably wasn't buying them for herself. Your Aunt Jennifer used to read to me when I was younger and I always loved that. She read me the Narnia books (well, some of them), and some other classics. Sometimes its nice to have somebody read to you.

So, Abby, here's the thing. Books are good. They are good for entertainment, and they are good for your brain. I hope you grow up to appreciate them. It would make me very happy if your bookshelf was always full. I hope you grow up to understand that books have a kind of energy about them. Especially really old ones. Books have a certain smell, and there are few things better than finding an old book and admiring the worn cover, yellowed pages, the smooth crisp paper and wondering to yourself who else has held the same book 100 years before you. Who else has read those pages and what did they think about it? What I'm trying to say is that books have a life of their own. And they should be appreciated. If you've inherited any of my genes - you'll get what I mean someday. It's harder to explain in writing than I thought it would be.

It's my job to make sure that you're exposed to lots of books as a child. It's a little bit daunting sometimes. I find myself determined to introduce you to all the classics so that you are a well rounded and productive member of society. I'm not sure that any official research has been done that connects Dr. Seuss familiarity with life success - but I'm going to do my best to cover the basics just in case. There are just a lot of books to cover - and you're going to love them.

So tonight, we took a detour and headed to the library before going home. I let you pick out some board books...this means I read you about a dozen of them and we checked out the two that you showed interest in - one was full of bright colors and baby's faces and the other one was mediocre until you found that the last page had a snowman on it...then you got excited again and demanded to read it over and over. After that, I took you to the Christmas section and we picked out a big colorful version of The Night Before Christmas. It's a classic and I hope you let me read it to you every year. **

And so tonight, before bed, You sat with me in the chair and drank your bottle while I read that story to you for the first time. You were completely relaxed and enjoyed looking at all the pictures. And I enjoyed watching you.

And so, sweet girl. I hope you grow up to enjoy reading - I promise I'll do my best to help you. And if you do - I promise you won't regret it.

Love you.

Mommy

** I asked if they had A Cajun Night Before Christmas and was told that it was at another location and they could order it for me. And for those of you who are not my siblings - this is the book I looked forward to hearing every year. My sister made the best voices - or at least we thought so at the time - At 7 I'm sure I didn't know what a Cajun accent should sound like, but I liked the one she did. That book holds a lot of memories for me too. :) Silly as it may be.