Tuesdays with Charlie | Choosing a Book by Its Cover.

I am happy to report that the library has become a regular part of our Tuesday morning routine. Thankfully there was a break in the rain and we got to walk a little (and count a lot of stairs*) after we parked the car. I had a book on hold, so we had to visit the grown-up floor first. The hold books come with two rubber bands and a slip of paper with ROG; I love that Charlie knows to take off the rubber bands and hand them to a librarian to recycle (next week we'll work on handing over that slip of paper too ;-) 

The book on hold was A Hat for Mrs. Goldman; I reserved it as soon as I saw Juliann's recommendation (we loved it).

But all the other books we read today, Charlie chose ... and, I've got to think, he chose them based on their covers. the color. the size. the illustrations on the cover. (or yikes, maybe just that he liked where they were positioned on the shelves?!?)

Our routine is that I let him wander the stacks and choose two books (today he got to do that three times). Then we read them, he returns them to the "Changed my Mind Cart" and we repeat. I was delighted when he returned one time with two Ezra Jack Keats' books I'd never heard of (The Snowy Day is a regular in our pre-nap story time rotation) but most of the other titles, well ... we came home with three of them.

He chose well. We have real photographs (and trucks!). delightful illustrations. good stories. even rhymes (which are so much fun to read). 

...and all of that made me think about the last book I chose based on its cover. I think I used to do it all the time. back when I used to wander the aisles at Barnes & Noble and bring home a pile of books.  but lately...not so much. I did choose (and love) Nobody's Fool last year because it had flowers on the cover (summer bingo!); but I really can't remember the last time I picked up a book to read just because of its cover. 

How about you? what was the last book you read because of its cover?

*as I typed that, I wonder how OCD it is that I always make a game of counting stairs with Charlie ... the stairs in my house are 6-9-3 and the ones at the library are "more than 20". 

p.s. yes, Charlie wore his hoodie for nap. and yes, he kept his hands in the pockets.