Last weekend Lyra read her first book all on her own. I was filled with pride as her mother, relief as her teacher, and satisfaction in my true self that I had followed my beliefs and they had indeed lead us where we wanted to go.
That being said, we are now at a crossroads with our reading material. Ever since starting to read we were comfronted with the problem that the material available was boring and flat. Lyra is used to listening to beautiful stories and her books were not encouraging her desire to read on her own. I had the waldorf student reading list, but not many of the books. The library here (a major library system) does not have them. The librarian told me "These are very old books," when I asked. Well yes, yes they are. That is why I want them, why they are wonderful and timeless. The book stores, also, were no help. Finally I ordered a bunch from Amazon. Yesterday our first shipment arrived. I just want to say, I had no idea people had written stories this beautiful for children to read. I didn't read books this lovely until I was in forth or fifth grade and I just randomly chose them off the bookstore shelf. The introduction and first page of Old Mother West Wind, by Thornton W. Burgess made me teary. I wish I had all of these sooner, but am much comforted that they are now in my possession, and available to me and the little group of families trying and finding our natural little way in this bustling suburban community. These books are exactly what I mean when I say "the nurtured life."
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