My love affair with books started a long time ago when I was a kid. Books taught me a lot of things I didn’t learn in class. My imagination and creativity brought me to numerous places. They gave me lessons, entertainment, and some of my books gave me a scare. There were no gadgets yet back then and my books kept me company sometimes along with playtime with my brother helped me learn too and thanks to my parents who gave us so much books to read and learn.

Now that I have my own kids, I hope they will appreciate books as much as I did even with all the amazing technology we enjoy today. For our part as parents, we will give them the resources for them to enjoy books. Of course they will have different interests in books and in everything else.

Do you know that reading has amazing benefits? So if you have kids around the house, start them early. It takes patience to get them to read in this internet-crazy world.

1. Widens the vocabulary– Sometimes we don’t know it but reading and encountering new words will eventually be added to our vocabulary.

2. Entertainment– reading is a free or affordable way to get entertained.

3. Improves memory and creativity– we remember bit of information we read and exercises our brains to use the details in conversations and other ways. Reading will also improve our creativity as we read through whatever we are reading. Some studies show that reading reduces the risk of memory problems such as Alzheimer’s.

4. Knowledge – Every time we read we get new information. We are not always aware but our brain absorbs a lot of things. It will just sometimes pop in conversations and you’ll be happy to know you remembered it.

5. Stress reliever- Reading can transcend you into a different realm. Even if you’re reading an article or feature, it can bring you into different mood and forget for a while the busy life we are faced everyday.

6. Helps develop strong analytical thinking skills. Your ability to decipher whether it’s a good book, well-written piece, bad book, or some opinion on the story or article is unwittingly one big help in you analytical thinking skills.

Books are precious and so we always make sure they are kept in a place where they will be read and kept well. When we moved into our new home, we picked from several designs of shelves and book cases for our children’s books. They were good designs even for any kind of books too. You may get a few ideas for your own small spaces at home or in the office so I’m sharing a few of our favorites here. These minimalist bookcases and bookshelves are awesome! Enjoy!

and this is what we have now in our home for the kids

It was custom made by our contractor. So happy that it’s easy to use, clean, and move around. In small spaces, it’s a good idea to have some things moveable rather than fixed so you can move them around depending on the need and the activities in the home.

“Books are a uniquely portable magic” – Stephen King