Although this is a hefty tome, the relaxed, informal tone begs you to snuggle up with it on the sofa with a cozy afghan, a crackling fire, and a hot cup of tea. Of course, it's winter here in Wisconsin: overcast, chilly and white outside. Whatever the weather or circumstances, this book is guaranteed to soothe the soul and inspire the book lover within. You feel like you are having a conversation with a best friend and will often find yourself saying, "Yes" and nodding in agreement, or pausing to reflect and say, "Hmm, interesting, I will have to think about that."

Appropriately subtitled How to Turn a Living Book into a Cherished Book within the Home, Literature Alive covers just about every imaginable topic related to books, book collecting, and creating book lovers in your children. There are a whopping 111 topics. Topic titles include: Compiling a Book List; Finding Old Book Friends; Narration and Writing for Beginners; Guiding Teens to Writing; Notebooking! Easy as A, B, C; A Journey into the World of Dyslexia; and The Art of Journals. There are also several articles on Maria Montessori and Charlotte Mason. Although the majority of the book is written by Cay Gibson, there are a number of contributing authors as well. If you enjoy books and have been homeschooling for a while, you will probably recognize a few of the contributing authors, such as: Ann Ball, Joan Stromberg, Penny Gardner and MacBeth Derham.

This is not the kind of book you will want to plow through quickly. You will want to pause often and reflect on passages and quotes about books while taking notes about favorite authors or helpful resources. For the bibliophile, you will be tempted to check out the lists of books about books and resources for literature study from the library or elsewhere. The book also includes blank spaces to add your own notes. The informal type face adds to the comfortable tone.

You might want to jump to your favorite topic or enjoy the journey from beginning to end with pit stops along the way. The spiral binding allows you to fold back the pages, making it easier to handle when reading. If you are a lover of great literature and good books, or just learning about the importance of literature in the lives of your children, you will enjoy this book. Even for those of us who don't need to be convinced of the value of good books, there is much to ponder within the pages of this wonderful resource.

Available through this link.