This summer I fully intended to sort through all our pre-read children's books and donate them to charity, but of course what with one thing and another my plans went completely to pot.
Our son in particular is a voracious reader, and although we try to borrow books from the library inevitably we end up buying a fair few. As I was looking through some of them this morning it occurred to me that these books are actually memories to cherish. From Kipper to Where The Wild Things Are to Harry Potter, I can remember the first time we read them together, the way he held them and how his face lit up as he lost himself in a new story. So I won't be getting rid of any of our precious children's books, and hopefully he'll be able to pass on the gift of reading to his own children one day.
My old chick/mum lit and best-sellers, on the other hand, can definitely be recycled, because frankly they're just collecting dust, and lots of it. Oxfam have just come up with a list of their most donated authors – No 1 is Dan Brown (this doesn't surprise me a bit) and Helen Fielding is No 5. (This surprised me a little, as Bridget Jones is still one of my all-time favourites).
In a few weeks I'll be launching our new book reviews section to help you choose new books to buy for your kids and yourself – all reviewed by parents and children. If you'd like to take part, simply email me here.
written by Liz Jarvis