My Book House

I love old books. Especially old books for children. Recently, a used bookstore opened up near us. I introduced my beloved to it yesterday and we lost track of time in the tomes.  I seek out the old book section always and come home with a treasure trove of used books. This bookstore has the best prices, only $1.29 for children's books! This is a steal. Yesterday, I found a My Bookhouse Book in perfect condition.What I love about antique books for children is the attention to details. The covers are works of art with gilding in gold. I found this bookplate in one of the books. I think it is beautiful with such detail and whimsy. If you are interested in lovely, whimsical bookplates, check out Tricia Scott's blog. She creates the most wonderful bookplates and has them for sale in her Etsy shop. You can find her at: http://a-little-birdie.blogspot.com/ .What has happened in our world of mass production of books? We have lost the attention to detail, of excellent works of art for our children, of personal bookplates for them. I prefer hardbound to paperback. Instead we find the flimsy, computer generated art, and lack of attention to detail. If I could build a house out of books, I would. One of our triplets, Benjamin (who is five) said to me, "I like books better than toys". This warms my heart. I hope we are introducing our children to good literature. Even the inside of these old books is a work of art. Engaging the child, and the child in me, to cherish what I hold. "Books are our friends", I tell our children, "we treat them with respect".I found a signed book by one of my favorite artists. I will profile her on my next Free Spirit Friday. Can you guess who she is? I'll give you a hint. She was editor of Cricket magazine for many years.