This had nothing to do with family finances.

Our parents actually gave away our set about the time my older sister started school.

They didn't like what they were seeing - the three of us mesmerized in front of what my dad called "the idiot box." We would mindlessly watch show after show and ignore everything around us, including the great treasure that our house did contain.

There were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of books.

There were shelves built by my dad in nearly every room.

On one wall of my bedroom, the books extended from floor to ceiling around two windows. I would fall asleep staring at titles that seem like old friends when I come across them now.

My parents probably read to us when we were very young, although I don't remember that. What I do recall is that it was a reading household.

My mom would go to bed with a book at night. My dad would be at his desk reading into the wee hours, sometimes finishing a book in one sitting.

We kids played outside whenever possible. Otherwise, we read.

Over and over we read children's series like "The Bobbsey Twins," "The Happy Hollisters" and "Nancy Drew." My sister, brother and I weren't even out of elementary school before we tired of those and moved on to grownup books.

My dad would bring sacks of paperbacks home from work. He would buy them new or used or trade with friends. Sometimes we kids would dive into the bag and read books before he did.

I remember when he finally got a turn at "The Green Berets," a Vietnam story with both violence and sex. He wasn't happy to realize his 12-year-old daughter had read it.

Interestingly, even that didn't cause him and my mom to run interference on our choices. They generally let us read anything we could get our hands on. I believe that's why we all did well in school and became lifelong readers.

When I had children of my own, it was a given that books would be a big part of their lives.

My husband and I didn't forgo television, but we tried to de-emphasize it.

One strategy was simply to turn it off when the kids wandered away. That kept the loud commercials from drawing them back.

I read to my toddlers regularly, but I fell into what I now think of as a Berenstein Bear rut. Then I came across a movement I can only describe as life changing.

Read Aloud West Virginia was founded in 1987, when my kids were 4 and 1. A couple of years later I became a Read-Aloud volunteer and got a copy of the "Read-Aloud Handbook" by Jim Trelease.

It opened my eyes to a much bigger, richer world of children's literature.

I gained as much as the children from the authors I explored. We became regular library users. The kids would take home books by the armload, and they developed favorites that they checked out time and again. 

If I read aloud my son's beloved but boring book of factoids about the Moon once, I did so a hundred times. Likewise the book that explained plumbing.

More to my liking was my daughter's favorite, "Arabba Gah Zee, Marissa and Me," about best friends playing after school.

My kids also moved on to adult books at tender ages. They are grown now and remain avid readers.

Our family recently expanded with the birth of a granddaughter.

In the newborn's room is a set of shelves already full of books. My son-in-law also has found a suggested reading list with many more titles. It will be a great source of gift ideas.

So it was a happy coincidence this week when an invitation to Seuss-a-Palooza, a Dr. Seuss party for grown-ups and fundraiser for Read Aloud West Virginia, crossed my desk.

The event is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at BrickStreet Insurance at 400 Quarrier Street in downtown Charleston.

The group's excellent Web site,www.readaloudwestvirginia.org, indicates that it uses donations to provide books to young readers. The group also trains volunteer readers and matches them with schools.

If you're interested in donating or reading to a group of students, it's a worthy cause.

If you did nothing more than find some good books and a child or two to serve as an audience, you would have done something pretty great.

The act is simple and enjoyable. The payoff is huge.

Friend is editor and publisher of the Daily Mail. She may be reached at 348-5124 or nan...@dailymail.com.