As a parent, one of your goals should be to encourage your children to read. Even though they'll read at school, spending time reading at home can help them to improve their vocabulary, expand their imagination, and deepen their knowledge about a variety of topics. If your kids enjoy reading and you frequently buy books for them, it's important to have a place to store the books. Visit a local furniture store to browse its selection of bookshelves. You'll likely find some that are designed for children to use. This will be evident because these pieces of furniture have a low height, allowing kids to reach the books on the top shelf with ease. Here are some other important design attributes of a children's bookshelf.
Wide Base
You want to be confident that a child who is reaching for a book on the top shelf won't pull on this piece of furniture and cause it to topple over. Look for a children's bookshelf that has a wide base, which will give it a low center of gravity and help to make it secure. This design will give you confidence that when your child needs to grab a book — even if they do so while pulling slightly on the shelf — the bookshelf will remain firmly on the ground.
Extra Storage
While it's common for a children's bookshelf to have several shelves, you'll find some models that have additional storage. For example, there might be a pair of drawers that are built into the bottom of the unit. Even though the primary purpose of this piece of furniture is to provide space for books, extra storage room can be desirable. For example, if your child plans to keep some activity books on one of the shelves, they can store art supplies in the drawer below. Or, if your child enjoys reading with a stuffed animal, the toy can reside in the drawer.
Child-Friendly Appearance
A lot of children's bookshelves have child-friendly appearances, which can make them appealing to kids. For example, they may use vivid colors that can match other pieces of furniture, including beds, dressers, and more. If you plan to set up a bookshelf in your child's bedroom or in a playroom, you probably have these spaces decorated in a vibrant manner. A bookshelf that uses one or more vivid colors will be a good fit. Learn more about children's bookshelves at your local furniture store.