the random muse

Happy Children’s Book Week

“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” — Anna Quindlen

There are so many reasons to love children’s and young adult books (which is probably why I have more of them on my shelves than any other genre). Here are a few:

Where the Wild Things Are
The Chronicles of Narnia
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The Snowy Day
Whistle for Willie
Bridge to Terabithia
Because of Winn Dixie
The Indian in the Cupboard
Make Way for Ducklings
Blueberries for Sal
The Lightning Thief
The Giver
A Wrinkle in Time
Harry Potter
Tikki Tikki Tembo
The Velveteen Rabbit

The one legacy I hope to leave my kids is a love for books and reading. If my son’s excitement over his new library card (”You mean they just let you take the books? Like, for free?”) is any indication, I’m off to a good start.

Move Over, Mr. Darcy.

Apparently I’m not the only Twilight fan who’s not exactly an angst-ridden teenage girl anymore. And here for the past week I thought I was alone in my secret grown-up swooning over Edward Cullen.

I mean, vampires? C’mon! I’m more of a historical - fiction - Jane - Austen - highly - literary type reader. Teenage vampires don’t usually find their way into those kinds of books.

But with all the buzz about Twilight and the opening of the movie in less than 12 hours, I decided to give the book a chance. I like to stay up on what popular culture is reading so I can give an educated opinion when someone asks…and besides, I needed some inspiration for the young adult novel I’m working on for my NANOWRIMO project.

Well.

Let’s just say that my book won’t include any vampires, because I couldn’t possibly top the intense, brooding, absolutely perfect Edward Cullen. (I just hope British actor Robert Pattinson has an entourage standing by to beat the girls away.)

So I read the book in a single sitting (yes, it’s that good)…ignoring children, housework, television, ringing phones and multiple requests from my husband to please stop reading for just five minutes.

Now, I’m not obsessed enough to ask Rick to grow fangs or anything…it is after all, just a book…but I can hardly wait to see the movie and read the rest of the series.

(For the record: I don’t recommend Twilight for young readers — especially not seven-year-olds. 16 and up — enjoy at your own risk. You might find Edward Cullen…well, irresistible!)