I used to freak out every time one of our books got ripped or a page got torn by my kids. I freaked out a lot.

Finally I realized that it was inevitable, and instead of keeping books away from my kids (or watching them every second) I would just resign myself to doing repairs every so often. I’ve decided that it is the price I’m willing to pay to instill in my children a love of books at an early age.

Here’s the pile of books I repaired the other night.

After being used by 7 kids, some of our books are getting a bit thrashed, or shall I say well loved? This is my second copy of this one.

I’ve read to many of my kids from birth, but especially at 6 months and up. At this age, they love board books by Sandra Boynton and Dr. Seuss. Of course they put the books in their mouths, but I just remind gently that we don’t do that. I try to just keep board books in the nursery for the first year or so.

I’ve purchased most our books second hand or at yard sales. Every couple months I get out my heavy duty tape.

I take all the books, covers and pages out of the bucket on my office shelf and I start taping.

I just can’t throw books away if they’re still salvageable. These are stories I loved growing up.

This one needed a bit more than tape. All the pages were coming out, so I had to resort to the stapler.

It brings me joy to see my children sitting for periods of time, absorbed in reading or looking at good books. And it doesn’t take long to read a few stories to the kids every night. The more I read to them, the more it solidifies their love of reading.

What a great reward!

How do you manage books around your young children?