Bentley spends time reading with any adult he can corral. At bedtime he tries to sneak as many books into the bedtime pile as possible. (I tell him three, but he pretends that he doesn't know how many three is. I think he does. He knows it's the number after two and not the number closest to ten.)
Bentley has always treated his books well. Even as an infant he wasn't given to chewing on them. He just instinctively knew that was inappropriate. I thought his good habits with books were because of our example to him.
Turns out I was wrong. Viva, who has also had our good example to show her the correct way to treat books, is a book defiler. She folds the front and back cover together and then sits on the book--to ensure the spine is broken. She carefully inspects the outside for any rips and then attacks at the weak spot. She mangles pages. She has even bent the thick pages in board books! There is no limit to what she will do to a book.
As I struggle to understand this horrific behavior I have come up with this explanation. She is a kinesthetic learner. She isn't interested in the visual appeal of a children's book. She isn't interested in the audio delight of being read to. She wants to play with the book--to manipulate it, to bend it, rip it, tear it, chew it, and just plain experience it physically. To her a book is a toy and she enjoys seeing how it moves.
So, the big question is--should I let her enjoy books in her own way? Should I turn a blind eye to her destructive ways or should I try to teach her to love books for the words and images, not for their play potential?
Despite my tendency to overindulge my grandchildren, I'm thinking that some lines need to be drawn and maintained. If Viva wants to play with something, there are plenty of toys in the toy bins. Books are for reading.
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