A Book Lover

My daughter informs me that the local library has charged her for the damage of two books. Both eaten by Jack.

Granted he shouldn’t be unsupervised or given unlimited access to books other than the indestructible board ones, but—and I have been guilty of this myself—he is so quick. In like a minute he has sucked a page corner into his mouth. Spines are his favorite, he gnaws on them like corn on a cob. The covers take a little more time; he masticates them with his two little teeth and gums, eventually softening a hole.

All this to say he loves books. He crawls to a bookshelf beside his crib and pulls out a load. From what I can observe it isn’t all about destruction. Books with animals and faces particularly appeal to him. We hold him in our lap and point things out and make the noises and engage him in story—before he squirms onto the floor. The other day I checked out Blueberries for Sal and he immediately buried his head into the center. I kept him on the floor and the book up high while I read and turned the pages. We next went on to Make Way for Ducklings and he tried to grab for it, but I kept it at a distance.

So the adults have to be vigilante, intentional in reaching for and reading to him, yet mindful that he is orally obsessed with books.