After spending time with out-of-state children and grandchildren, I often think about this statement from psychologist, counselor, and author Mary Pipher in the chapter on grandparents in her book Another Country:

“The longer I work with families, the more I respect and appreciate those families who decide to make the sacrifices necessary to live near one another. Physical distance makes a big difference in the qualities of the relationships.”

I get this. I also know (and Pipher acknowledges) that when it’s not possible to be there, we can find ways to connect and stay connected.

Bridging the distance with a recordable storybook is one of those ways!

In 2010, when we had just one grandchild, my husband and I sent him a recordable book for his third birthday–just a few months after he moved with his mom and dad several states away.

We couldn’t be there for his birthday, and we weren’t sure when we would be together again.

Finding a recordable book for him, taking turns with my husband to record each page, and putting the book in the mail comforted me–I didn’t want our grandson to forget the sounds of our voices, and I didn’t want him to think we’d forgotten him.

He loved it. And there’s another almost-three-year-old in the family now, and I think it might be time for him to get his own recorded book!

One nice feature about recording the story for a young child is that you can personalize the story if you’d like–adding the child’s name or changing words a little to fit the child’s own circumstances.

Hallmark, DaySpring, and Publications International are three publishers I’m familiar with who offer recordable books.

If you read online reviews, you might come across complaints that the technology in the books doesn’t work well. Here’s the secret: the playback mechanism is light activated! Be sure to open each two-page spread flat so light can access the small holes near the center and start the recording for those pages. Or, if your grandchild might be reading the book at bedtime, send along a small flashlight!

DIANE

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