Voracious Readers
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Voracious Readers
Feb 2011
I have two daughters, 9 & 11. The 11 year old has a vast collection
of books, most of which have been given to her, but some of which she
bought with her own money. Now her younger sister is becoming as
voracious a reader as she, but the 11 y.o. hates to share her books,
saying ''she'll mess them up''--bend the pages, leave marks on them,
etc. (The younger one is actually very careful and respectful of the
books.) I'm not about to buy duplicates of all these great books, but
I want to respect her personal property too... I keep saying ''books
are meant to be shared, and read by many people...if you're not
reading it, let her read it.'' But the elder one continues to get
upset. What's the right thing to do? Help!
Berkeley mom
Do your kids have library cards? Get in the habit of using
the library (Oakland used to not have any fees for
children's books being over due!). If there is a book that
your younger child wants to read, get it from the library.
You can manage your account easily online, requesting books,
and they'll even email you when they are ready to be picked
up.
Don't buy any more books unless they've read it once from
the library and absolutely love it and want to read it again.
mom of 4 readers!
I can see your frustration, but maybe you need to back
off.
IMHO, if the books are indisputably the older child's
books, then you need to allow them to be hers. I don't
think books are always ''meant to be shared'' any more than
clothes are. If she bought it, it's hers. If she was
given it as a special present, ditto.
Her younger sister will (or could) presumably accumulate a
similar number of books in a couple of years. Meanwhile,
aside from the library, there are lots of ways to get
inexpensive books, -- Goodwill, yard sales, Moe's books,
all the other 2nd hand bookstores, etc etc.
Good luck with this
fellow Berkeley parent
How about taking your younger one to the library to check
out books that the older one does not want to share with
her. If your younger one loves the book so much after
reading it, then purchase her one as well. Or perhaps, offer
to purchase her a different one Maybe the older one is
looking for attention this way. Try not to make a big deal
about it and avoid the conflict.
I know in my household, a consequence of not sharing would
mean that I will no longer buy the books for the child and
instead offer the library. What they purchase with their own
money or receive as gifts from others, is theirs to decide
to share or not.
Family that loooves the library
I like your reminders that books are meant to be read by many people and also
that you are trying to respect your older daughter's personal property. Keep
letting your older daughter know that books are meant to be shared and try to
encourage her, but take your younger daughter to the library--just you and
her--where she can choose either the same books or try different ones.
book lover
It'd be nice if your daughter would share but it doesn't seem likely. Is it
worth the battle? Suggest that it would be the kind thing to do and then
have your younger one get them at the library. She may realize her
selfishness with less push. She's likely to get MORE selfish otherwise.
If only kids could go to the future and look back at their actions.
tricky, especially if some of the books were given as bday
gifts... i think you need to come up with a clearly defined
rule that applies to the whole family and then stick to it.
for example, maybe you can tell your older daughter that she
will have to share most of her books (and be direct about
why, eg, they are expensive, sharing with loved ones is
important, etc.) but let her choose her 3 favorite books
that she doesn't have to share.
it might be worth establishing a rule for the future that
any books purchased with her own money she may choose to
share or not share, but books you buy for either of them
need to be shared... or something along those lines.
personally, i think teaching kids to share is very valuable,
but obviously they deserve to have sacred personal items,
too. striking a balance is what i'd go for.
anon
I have an idea for you, inspired by something my younger
daughter did when she was about 9. She created a ''library''
so that her friends could borrow her books. She kept a list
of who had what and she even established due dates (though I
don't think she actually enforced them). She had a lot of
fun with it and even created lists of her books and index
cards that went in them. Would a system like that be of
interest to your older daughter? It might actually make it
fun to lend out her books, even if it's just to her sister.
Mom of a future librarian
I wouldnt try to get your child to share their books. I
remember having a very personal relationship with my books
and i got jealous when my mother tried to read some of
them to my brother at bedtime. I would suggest that you
buy books for 'Mom's Library' that both kids can borrow
from, or buy your younger child a book that the older one
wants to read also and see if you can organise a swap
agreement. Other than that, head to the library every
fortnight, it will be like kids in a candy store.
ENolan
If she bought the books, they're hers, and she shouldn't have to share them.
Likewise with the books specifically given to her.
The right thing to do is buy and check out books for your younger daughter. You
can buy used books really cheap--look for books sales, thrift stores, library
book stores. No reason to antagonize the older one or withhold from the
younger one. And in the future, if you're the one buying the books, you might
want them to be explicitly intended for both girls.
Book lover
I just wanted to say that some of the responses you got
telling you that your older daughter shouldn't have to share
her books, and just to take they younger one to the library
made me sad for all the not-first-borns out there. While
it's important for each child to have their own things,
books are definitely one of those things that should be
shared. Yes, maybe the oldest can have a few special
favorites that aren't shared, but I feel like most should be
considered part of the family's library. She may have been
given some of them as gifts, but as a mother of two girls
and aunt of two boys, when I give books I expect them to be
shared. In other words, I wouldn't think to buy the same
great book for my younger nephew two years after I'd given
it to his older brother - I would buy him a different great
book so they both could read both. Rather than taking your
youngest to the library and leaving your oldest with her
pristine books, I'd tell the older one that she wasn't going
to be getting any more new books as gifts until she learned
to share them, and start taking them BOTH to the library as
their main source of reading material. And I'd get your
younger one a few new books of her own for any upcoming
special occasions so that she can build up her own
collection. When she has a few that the older one wishes to
read, the sharing may begin.
books are for sharing
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