For the love of books

My awesome kiddos have my love of books.  Especially Dawson - he has loved books from the time he was a little baby.

Well, except this book.  Apparently The Cider House Rules made him cry.

This was a typical day in the Henry house when Dawson was a baby.  The bookshelf was no match for him.

2.5 year old Dawson and 1 year old Wesley

In the past couple weeks, Dawson in particular has reacted pretty strongly to some books that we've read.  The first was The Giving Tree.  I read it to the boys the other week, and when we finished, Dawson was noticeably quieter.  I asked him a question, and when he answered, his voice was shaky, like he was about ready to cry.  I finally asked him if he was ok, and he told me "I feel sad."  He had a hard time articulating it, but he told me that the book made him feel sad.  I felt so bad that he was so sad, but a tiny part was excited - a book has already drawn out such a strong feeling from him?!  Please tell me this will continue!

But of course, other times, he doesn't react quite like I expect.  Last night I picked out Love You Forever for the boys.  I have never been able to read that book without tearing up/crying.  Never.  When Dawson was a baby, I could barely look at the cover without crying.  So last night I was feeling sentimental and picked up that book to read.  I was tearing up by the time the mom was rocking her toddler back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and by the time I got to the teenager, I was crying.  Dawson, however, wasn't phased a bit by my emotions. Instead, he started laughing, "That mom can't lift that BIG boy!"  Leave it to a 4 year old to take the story literally.  On the plus side, I didn't cry quite as much through it!