Buying Books for Children

Some of my fondest childhood memories aren't just book-related but bookstore-related. The children's section in my parent's favorite bookstore had this great train track you could play with and an awesome boat-shaped sitting area you could climb all over and shelves that come up only to my waist these days. Though sadly this particular bookstore no longer exists I never came out of it without a new book. Miss Rumphius was one of my favorites. So much so that though I have no idea what became of my original copy I bought another one when I was sixteen or seventeen. When I stopped being such a little kid I not only devoured a huge portion of my father's library but I didn't come out of the bookstore without several new books every time we went. Their only real rule was that we didn't buy hardcovers because they're quite expensive (my father still never buys hardovers). The other thing was that they weren't going to buy books I wasn't going to read (and why would I want them anyway?)

My parents are not rich people by any stretch of the imagination. My mother is a school teacher and my father is a commercial fisherman. I'm the youngest of four children. But my parents understood the value of reading and education. My mother read out loud to all of us until I was eight or nine which put my oldest brother at sixteen or seventeen. She only stopped then because my second-oldest brother and I kept stealing the book from her and reading ahead. They also bought books for all of us, not just me, so it wasn't uncommon for them to spend hundreds of dollars once every month or two at the bookstore. As a result I spent most of highschool reading my books instead of paying attention but still, somehow, managed to get good grades.

So maybe I was pampered as a child and I understand that some children's books can be expensive but aside from the bargain books we carry (which are, as far as I can tell, publisher overstocks that they sell off for the cost it would take to destroy them) I could pick out dozens, hundreds of books probably, for children in our store that would cost you half the amount for one romance novel or a quarter what you might pay for a girlie magazine. Not to mention the fact that young people and young adult books (which can run to several hundred pages) often cost much less than adult books of the same binding or even quality. So I'm not quite sure why it is that when parents come into the store with their children in tow so they, the adult, can pick up a copy of Twilight or grab some truck magazine or even porn (yes, people bring their children into the bookstore for seemingly the sole purpose of buying porn) and their child asks them for a book they don't buy one.

Maybe, maybe you think your kid should get books from the library (which are free after all), or maybe you think your kid does plenty of reading in school and doesn't need you to purchase books for them. But when asked to purchase a book for their child parent's don't say: "Not today sweetie, but tomorrow we can go to the library." They don't negotiate: "How about this book about a little princess just like my little princess instead of that book?" In order to convince them they want a less expensive one. I rarely hear one say: "Maybe next time." But I often hear parents say: "No, because when we go to you're just going to ask me for a toy there and get upset because I already bought you a book." ...You actually want to buy your child more noisy toys instead of a book which might encourage them to be quiet and probably more introspective which may lead them not to whine at all? No? How about a book that encourages your child not to whine? You wouldn't even buy them one of those? What's wrong with you?

Parents will buy themselves a stack of hardcovers but deny their child a book because of expenses. Why not trade one of those hardcovers for a softcover and get your kid a book? Or they'll buy themselves porn, or on a financially if not morally worse decision, get themselves marijuana magazines and tell the children that they brought along to the store that they can't get a book. And why not? Because having a pot magazine (or pot itself) is more important to you than your child's future? And porn instead of books for children? Really? Why not buy your child a book or two and get free porn on the internet like everybody else. Maybe if you bought your kid some books they wouldn't be such a... let's say "nuisance". After all, they're the ones who are interested in reading and learning when they ask about having a book. One day when you shut that down you may shut it down forever. But maybe I know nothing about it. I don't have any children after all. I have been one, though.