SOLC 2014 Day Thirty: Do your children ask for books?

My teenboy has discovered that if he accepts an invitation to go shopping with me (one of my ploys to get him out of the house and away from a screen), he usually gets something in return.  A pack of Pokemon cards, something yellow (his favorite color), Dots candy...I have a hard time saying no, since he is such a great kid--good student, compassionate, with a lawyerly ability to plead his case when it comes to a purchase.

Yesterday, we made our monthly shopping trip to WallyWorld so that I could stock up on multipurpose contact solution, chocolates for the circulation desk's teacher stash, and a green plastic trash can for recyclables in our bathroom.  

We came home with the first two items, couldn't find the third...and an additional Marvel characters teeshirt, Dots candy, and Pokemon cards.  

And a book.  Which we're not supposed to talk about, because he asked for it as a birthday gift.  For his birthday in May.  Both of my children have gotten really good at pointing out what they would like for their gift-receiving occasions, being present while I buy it, and then truly forgetting that I've stashed it away for the event.  It's a trait I love.

How can this teacher-librarian say no to a book?  I've never been able to do so.  One of my favorite stories occurred when I sent teenboy to his middle school bookfair with a blank check.  The librarian, a friend, emailed me at work to make sure that the forty-plus dollar purchase was okay, assuring me that we could return any of it if necessary.  My reply:  If a teenboy wants to read forty-plus dollars worth of books, who am I to say no?

Do your children, at home and in your classrooms, ask for books?  If not....why not?

It's a question worth asking.