Truly awesome newborn present

I have just received a gift from my cousin for the recent birth of my first baby.  I opened the package to see a slightly tattered and dog eared edition of Graeme Base’s “The Eleventh Hour”.

The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base

It’s a wonderful, beautifully illustrated book with a captivating story in the form of a rhyme, including a who-dunnit mystery for the reader to solve.

But what makes this present really special is that this book was first given to my little sister, 21 years ago.  My mother then gave the book to my cousin’s younger sister and then each of my cousin’s three children in turn have enjoyed the book being read to them hundreds of times.  And now I have the book for my own child to enjoy.  In it my gorgeous cousin has written an inscription to my little baby wishing him the same joy it has brought to all the children who’s sticky fingers and eager eyes have absorbed its pages before him. It’s a beautiful thing to see that list of names in the inscription.

I can’t wait to give it to my little sister for her first child, already on it’s way, so that the book will have come full circle.

The next time you’re trying to think of the perfect gift, think about something pre-loved rather than something new.  If your kids are getting too old for a book or something else that has given them a lot of joy, just as another one is arriving at the perfect age to inherit it, make sure it makes its way to their little hands.  It’s a wonderful, special gift.

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