The love of books

A few weeks ago I took GrandDaughter1 and GrandSon2 to the theatre to see The Hunting of the Snark. They both enjoyed it so I ordered a hardback copy of the book for them - well, mostly for GrandDaughter at this point in time.

I gave it to her on Sunday and she was delighted, not only with the present but with the book.
'It's so beautiful. Look it has shiny page edges. And the author's name is shiny too. And I love the illustrations. Did you choose it specially? Were there others?'
'Yes, but I liked these illustrations best.'
'He is my favourite illustrator. And it has a ribbon bookmark.'
'Yes, books sometimes have those.'
'Not very often.' She cuddled it to her.

I am so pleased she has inherited my love of books as items as well as for reading. I still remember the first time I saw Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diary. I was working in the bookshop at the time and I experienced the same awe at the beauty of it. A pleasure to hold, flick through, read and maybe even try a recipe.