Do children’s books belong in the toy box?

Do children’s books belong in the toy box?
No! Children books do not belong in the toy box nor the sand box! They are not carpet surfboards, bike ramps, flying saucers or mud pie platters. They are not CDs, movies, or video games! Our children have plenty of these types of things to entertain themselves with 24/7.
Children’s books do not have to substitute nor supplement for toys or other things of leisure. Yet we often choose our children’s books as if they were for recreational purposes. We are influenced by spin-offs from daytime kid shows, popular children’s movies, cartoons, and superheroes. Moreover, we often select our children’s books because they are cute, funny, or even silly.
Children’s books are among the first thing purchased for the cognitive development of our children. They are introduced at a very crucial time in the lives of children. A time when the fundamentals and foundation of all learning is beginning to be formed. We expect that the books will set our children upon a course to have success in school, at play, in college or work, and ultimately in life. More immediately, we expect that the books will teach the children colors, shapes, number, to read, to write, to test, morals, and to use and retain knowledge etc.
With such great expectations, we should at least conclude that children’s books are definitely not toys or playthings. Children’s books are educational tools! This is an important concept for us all because it should guide us in the selection and purchase of books for our children. The selection of children’s books should reflect an understanding that they will begin to lay the foundation upon which all future learning will be built. The soundness of this foundation will impact children’s short and long-term success or failure. With all that we expect as parents and all those things’ children will require to have success, we should try to assure that a significant number of our children’s books are truly educational tools! Astoryplus Children’s Books Blog… astoryplus.com