Keeping a room full of books for little people in a house full of big people is a touch mad.  In a nook on our second floor are piles of picture books and young adult novels that could benefit from some pruning. The hoarder police have bugged the place, as have the Centre for Sorry Marthas, or those who think three desserts is perfectly normal to offer at dinner parties.

When reason is called upon, I point to pint-sized nieces and nephews or neighbours kids. All have messed about in there for years, attending various sessions of Bookworms, a pocket money endeavour for my eldest.

My kids alphabetized the books one year in one of those grand gestures mother everywhere recognize as a wow moment, when the minions impress beyond comprehension.

We’re attached to paper here at Wit’s End. When it comes to reading narrative, I just can’t do it on my iPad. My books aren’t going anywhere.

Good thing too for today is National Family Literacy Day. Family literacy is a weird beast in 2015. When I pop into our local kids book store, the place is hopping, the owner tells me, relief spilling from every pore. She’s bucked the trend. Parents reading to kids aren’t going anywhere either. Except I keep spotting kids not old enough to tie their shoes holding iPads.

Researchers are going at this at a furious pace.  Is how we read affecting our children’s brains?  Does reading a tablet differ from reading a book?  Some things are just obvious.

“The feel of pages under one’s fingertips isn’t simply old-fashioned charm. It’s a rich source of information, subconsciously informing readers of their position in a text. Reading experts say that sense of position is important: It provides a sort of conceptual scaffold on which information and memory is automatically arranged, and the scaffold is strongest when built from both visual and tactile cues.”

Wired, Those dead trees still have a lot of life in them.

Duh. I like using my hands. I need to feel it, the high gloss of the cover, the pages under my fingers.  When a kid is snuggling up to be read to, they like to touch the book too, turning the pages in gleeful anticipation.

This year, the literacy initiative is focusing on fifteen minutes of fun.  Those of us who’ve been there know you need all the tools in your kit.

It also helps to choose awesome material. Reading dumb kids books is hell. Reading good ones can turn a bad day into giant bubbles of happiness.

Here’s one decent list to start.

For those looking for books outside of the library system, a fantastic source is The Children’s Book Bank in Toronto. They will accept donations year round, for those sensible sorts willing to part with cherished books.

I promise, we really do give stuff away eventually.