I would like to say that my reason for having hundreds of children’s books is that I have two small children; however, I owned most of these books pre-children, pre-marriage. I’ve always loved children’s books, and I am sure I’ll continue collecting even when my own children have moved on to Seamus Heaney and Mary Oliver (fingers crossed…).

In college, I wrote three senior theses (true confession!), and I continued my lit studies in grad school—I was hooked on finding deeper meaning in every piece of literature that came my way.

And then I had babies.

When I was a kid, my family used to go to family camp every summer. The year I was in fifth grade, the camp director had each family stand up in front of everyone and introduce themselves, saying one thing about each family member. I listened in excited anticipation about what Daddy would say about me. He introduced himself and my mama, and then he started introducing us kids, going on and on about how talented my sisters were.

What would he say about me?