Book Basket

Our Book Basket lists in the Appendix of each Teacher’s Manual are an incredibly unique feature of our curriculum, and I had the privilege of being part of creating the list for our Preschool curriculum. We feel the Book Basket enriches a love of reading by giving students choices in the books they read for leisure, rather than assigning them specific titles. These lists are truly a labor of love, and I would like to share the process with you. Each book on the list is pre-read and hand-selected from hundreds of books by our author, Marie Hazell.

Marie and I would review the website for our local library and reserve the maximum number of books allowed. We would also make a physical list of dozens of other books so that I could check out the maximum amount on our special library card, which was 200 books at a time. We would focus on only a couple of units with each library trip.

I would make my bi-weekly trip to the library with book crates loaded into the company van, pick up my holds, and then search for the remaining books on my list. My Father’s World is located in a smaller rural community in Missouri, so we would travel to St. Louis or our capital, Jefferson City—both about an hour away—to access libraries with much larger selections. This meant several hours of searching up and down the shelves. I came to know the libraries very well.

I would often take my daughter with me to help. She thought it was a fun adventure and was always happy to lend a hand. Typically, I would leave the library with four to six crates of books loaded onto a rolling cart. I developed a fun relationship with the librarians, and they were always happy to see me. They enjoyed that I was keeping them busy, and I was always careful not to come on story days when they were especially crowded. You do get a few stares when you’re wheeling six crates of books out of the library.

I would bring the books back to Marie’s office and arrange them in piles on her floor according to theme or unit. Marie would then begin the task of reading each book and choosing the best of the best. Once she selected a book, she would write a summary, and I would add it to the library list. We repeated this process every two weeks until the list was complete.

We also update our library lists every few years, removing older publications, especially nonfiction books, which libraries update frequently. I hear from customers often about how much they love these lists, and I always enjoy sharing the story of this process.

We continually hear from families about how invaluable these lists are, and I hope you will grow to treasure them and rely on them as a trusted resource for your family as well.