My sixteen-year-old son and I spent some time in his bedroom the other day, re-organizing his bookcase. (The same white Ikea BILLY bookcase that used to be in my childhood bedroom many years ago.) During college, I worked in a public library; I’m happy to help when someone wants to re-organize a bookcase.

Many of my son’s once-favorite picture books had sat on those lower shelves for several years now, largely untouched and unread.

“I don’t want to donate them, but I don’t want them out on my bookcase,” he said.

I understood.

There are some books that are so firmly rooted in memories that you can’t possibly imagine parting with them. For our son, that included Curious George books and a large stack of Todd Parr books. 

From his stacks, we did find a few to donate, and I found one I have now placed on my bookcase — The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds.

I could mention the book’s charming illustrations. 

Or the short and sweet author’s note on the inside of the front cover. 

Or the encouraging author’s note at the back of the book: “Reach for your own words/ Tell the world who you are/ and how you will make it better.”

But really, I’m keeping this book because of sentences like these:

“Jerome began stringing words together.
Words he had not imagined being side by side.
He used his words to write poems.
He used his poems to make songs.
They moved. They delighted.
Some of his simplest words were his most powerful. 
Jerome eagerly collected more and more of his favorite words. 
The more words he knew the more clearly he could share with the world what he was thinking, feeling, and dreaming.”

I am proud to be a word collector.

Readers, do you have any children’s books you keep near your writing space? Any children’s books you just can’t part with? Please share. 

Please note: I am including a link to buy the book that I’m highlighting this week. If you use my link, I do make a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am working with Bookshop.org which also sends a portion of the profit to support local, independent bookstores.