The language of the book should show respect for the child, his emotions, and his intelligence. Make careful selections of books and provide a book rack or some other easily accessible place to keep them, so that the child can always find the one she wants, can care for them and put them away by herself. It is far better to have only a few beautiful books to be loved and respected, than to have many which are unworthy of the developing mind of a young child. At this age the subjects in books should be based on reality because the child wants to learn about the real world. When a child is intensely interested in learning everything about the real world, we provide stories and books about reality, saving talking animals, such as in Aesop's Fables for example, till later.
Fantasy is very interesting to the older child, but only confusing to the very young.
A rich foundation of stories about the real world is the best preparation for a creative imagination. There is nothing more extraordinary and interesting than our own daily life. Fantasy can come later - after reality has been experienced and absorbed. The products selected by the Michael Olaf Montessori staff are very different from those commonly available for children. We plan to add these products to our web page in the future, but in the meantime they can be found, along with many illustrations and photographs of children, in the paper copy of Joyful Child.