Welcome to my new blog! :) Decided to start this blog share some of my favourite children's books. I believe that the best gift we can give to a child is the love for books. So thought this is going to be a great place for me to share with anyone who would love to share a good book with a child.
I can't remember how I really got into reading. I don't remember my parents reading to me when I was a child or bringing me to the library. It must have started in school. I remembered when I was in Primary 2, my form teacher gave me a storybook as a reward for doing well in class. It was a bible story, can't really remember which one it was. In Primary 3, I remembered reading Enid Blyton, being carried to the magical lands on the Magic Faraway Tree.
Then in Primary 5, my English teacher, Miss Hwee Wei Ling, read to our class "The Twits" by Roald Dahl. On a Saturday, I found out about a Puffin Book Sale in Tanjong Pagar and took the new SMRT train From Yishun on my own trying to find the sale so that I can get my hands on the book. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, I had lost my way. See! From young, I'm been travelling around Singapore in search of my books! I visited 2nd-hand book stores, took the bus to the Ang Mo Kio National Library, visit the Popular bookstore at Tao Payoh, usually on my own.
I continued to read (on and off) all through adulthood. About 10 years ago, when I went for teacher training at NIE, I was brought back to the magical world of children's books. And I started collecting them. When I had my teaching practicum, I had a story to share for lessons everyday. And over the years, I've build up a collection of children's books that filled up my class library. These are books that I would love to share with my own children in the future. I became the school's library coordinator which meant that I was able to 'indulge' in my favourite past-time- shopping for children's books.
Sometimes I questioned myself why I spend so much on children's books as I have no children of my own to read these stories to. But I figured that the children in my class will really benefit from the collection in my class. And to further justify my spending, I told myself if people can spend thousands on a handbag, I can spend on my books. Others shop for clothes, shoes, cosmetics and handbags, I shop for books.
Then when I stopped teaching, I wondered what is to become of all these books. I've donated some but decided to keep the rest. I love them too much to give them all away. And I still hope to share these books with my children in the future. In the meantime, they will help to entertain the children who visit our home.
I would like to use this blog to keep my interest in children's books alive and as a venue to share some of the interesting children's books that I've collected or came across over the years. Hope that it will be useful to someone out there :)
Remember that the best gift we can give to a child is the love for books! So let us all just get wild about books!
