Is ruined books the price paid for fostering a love of reading for babies and toddlers?

[Anticyclone]

Our 11mo is really getting into his books and loves having everything read to him. He will now go to his bookshelf and empty all his books out and often bring one for us to read to him. And he has started pointing at things in the pictures.

We have a good selection of board books which can take a reasonable amount of punishment from him, but we also have a number of normal big paperbacks, which are easy for him to bend and rip.

Most these books will give him pleasure for at least another 5+ years I should think, and so I find it hard to watch when he grabs them and folds and rips the edges. I temporarily take them off him if he does this, but I don't want to hide them away completely as he enjoys looking at them so much and I want to encourage him to love books.

I guess a load of battered dog eared books are better than a pristine shelf-full, as it means he's got something out of them. But I worry I'll have to replace them all before he's 2! Should I just be less precious about them?

Anti, my DS is nearly 11 months too and also LOVES his books. He will sit with me and be read to for as much as half an hour at a time, I love it. (and the chance to sit down and have the very active baby sit still )

He has also just discovered he can go and rifle through his books and choose one to read but this is resulting in some of the less tough one getting battered!

I think I'm going to have to move the ones I don't want him to ruin to a higher shelf and just get those ones out for him. I think he'll be cross I've ruined his pulling all the books down game but hopefully the ones I get out will be a nice surprise for him.

As a bookworm who squeaks if I see a grown-up break the spine of a book (raaaaaaaahhhh!), and the mum of a destructive spirited DS who also loves books, I feel your pain.

Basically as others have said, I keep expensive and precious books out of reach (I've been given a few beauties and I have a few of my old books too that I want to share), and give myself up to the fact that anything in the book sling in our reading corner, and anything in his room, will be trashed. He LOVES reading though so I see it as a fair exchange even though it sets my teeth on edge to see ripped pages and dust covers

I kept special books on above shelf out the way.
When ds1 was about 4 and an avid reader and a transformers fan, DH gave him his transformers a-z book that was his as a kid, ds1 read it So much it fell apart. I tried to find another copy to discover they are about £1000 now!!!!!!

Most children under 2-3 years are too little to understand how to treat paperback / paper pages with proper respect.
Either put them away until he's older and stick to board books for now, or don't mind if they get trashed.

I've got a few books that I don't mind my 9 month old wrecking. What The Ladybird Heard sound book for example - quite big and bulky with paper pages, but ACE noises. She's worked out how to make the noises, and turns the pages too. Also got given several copies of Hungry Caterpillar, so one has been sacrificed to the 'over loved' pile. Also Pants - she thinks those pictures are good. Even some of the ones we have for bedtime like Owl Babies are suffering from her page turning though - even with supervision - so I think it's just about being less precious.

Poundland often have books ... I like dd to play in a tactile way to get her used to handling books. This is quite important from a learning pov.
Poundland and jumble sale books are chewed and held together with tape.

Library books and gifted books are played with under close supervision as story time with an adult.