---Lemony Snicket
As an English teacher I felt it my duty to bestow a love of reading on those in my classrooms. This was not a difficult task, because my love of the written word is so genuine that it became a bit contagious. I believed that those who entered my room as a non-reader simply had not found the books they liked to read yet, and that became our quest. Every book has something to teach, and if a student wanted to read his/her words in the bubbles of graphic novels, that was fine with me. I used to tell them that reading was good for their health.
Luckily, science has finally caught up with me. A recent article in the journal "Social Science and Medicine", explained that "reading a chapter a day may keep the doctor away." Researchers say that they found book readers seemed to average living two years longer than non-readers. Their study of 3,500 people found that those "who read for up to three and a half hours per week were 17 percent less likely to die over 12 years of follow-up. And those participants who reported reading more than that were 23 percent less likely to die." (Hmmm...hopefully all of the complainers among my former students are thanking me now)
Due to an annoying allergy to newsprint in recent years, I am doing all of my reading on my trusty iPad mini. I love this little mechanism that helps me carry hundreds of books anywhere at anytime. Buying books with the mere touch of a button is amazing, but it will never replace the hours spent browsing the aisles of the many bookstores that populated our neighborhoods. I would get lost in the smell of thousands of books, reading first chapters of ten or twelve on any given day.
I remember my grandmother taking me to the Doubleday bookstore near her home every time I visited. I would be allowed to pick out one book (I always went for Nancy Drew) and then anxiously sit through our Horn and Hardart's lunch so I could get home and read. I remember taking Mike and Beth to Waldenbooks and letting them experience the joy of browsing through hundreds of books and finding the perfect bedtime companion. They would meet friends there and have long chats with the book sellers. So yes, innovations are great and our world of electronics has added a dimension that we never could have imagined, but we have also lost a wonderful part of what we were. There are no face to face encounters on our computers, and no little snack areas to drink hot chocolate in, while looking through our latest purchase.
That is why we must frequent our libraries and continue introducing children to a place where they can be surrounded by thousands of real and touchable books. Let them sit in a corner with stacks of these treasures and select the few that they want to take home. Teach them to care for these borrowed books so they can be returned in perfect shape for the next young borrower. Let then know that life is definitely greater than simply pushing a button. Lemony Snickett has it right...the library might not solve all of our problems, but it just might give us a bit of time to forget them.
One book that the young ones may enjoy is Hilly Discovers Her Feelings by Meytal Raz-Nav. It is nicely illustrated and explores children's emotions and helps them to understand why they might feel the way they do.
While the children are exploring the library, parents can sit on a comfy chair and read Sandra Brown's new book, Sting. A typical Brown offering, it starts out with a murder and a kidnapping and takes off full speed ahead. I have always enjoyed this author's character development, and this book is no exception. If you are a Sandra Brown fan, Sting should make you very happy.
As always, full reviews of both books will follow this blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly