Book(s) Question

I ran across a book listed on ebay that has the some beautiful illustrations
(in my opinion anyway). The book is titled "Bayou Suzette" by Lois Lenski.
From my rudimentary research, I have found that this is 1 of 16 books
written with a regional flavor, where the main character is developed and
placed within the environs of their youth.

To the question: I have 4 grandchildren ranging in age from nearly 4 to 19.
What I would like to do is assemble (collect) the entire set for them to
enjoy. Do you think I ought to place them in the home of my grandchildren
(they all live in the same house) or keep them here with me. The children
have always shown respect for books and such so I am not worried to much
about their treatment. The reason for keeping them here is entirely selfish,
then I would have the pleasure of reading the books to them as I showed the
illustrations from time to time. What do you think? Give them direct access
to the books or make it a special event type of thing at grandpa's house?
Thank you in advance for your input,

Herb

PS. if you would like to see the illustrations here is a link to the ad I
saw:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29223&item=6905342987
There are other Lenski books on ebay, so it looks as if getting the whole
set ought to be easy enough.

Herb wrote:
 > I ran across a book listed on ebay that has the some beautiful illustrations
 > (in my opinion anyway). The book is titled "Bayou Suzette" by Lois Lenski.
 > From my rudimentary research, I have found that this is 1 of 16 books
 > written with a regional flavor, where the main character is developed and
 > placed within the environs of their youth.
 >
 > To the question: I have 4 grandchildren ranging in age from nearly 4 to 19.
 > What I would like to do is assemble (collect) the entire set for them to
 > enjoy. Do you think I ought to place them in the home of my grandchildren
 > (they all live in the same house) or keep them here with me. The children
 > have always shown respect for books and such so I am not worried to much
 > about their treatment. The reason for keeping them here is entirely selfish,
 > then I would have the pleasure of reading the books to them as I showed the
 > illustrations from time to time. What do you think? Give them direct access
 > to the books or make it a special event type of thing at grandpa's house?
 > Thank you in advance for your input,

By all means, make it a special event. My mother kept certain books at
her home to read to my sons, and they have very special memories
surrounding them as a result. You could always give the books to the
children when they are older, but you will make them far more magical by
keeping them yourself for now. (Grandparents are magical people,
anyway, and the better you can live up to that the more of a gift it
will be for your grandchildren.)

Another thing my mother did was to tape record herself reading certain
books and then give the book and tape to my sons. That was especially
important to them before they were able to read themselves, and they
would listen to the tapes over and over.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->