My eight-year-old grand-daughter has discovered the thrill of reading, and she devours books for hours every day. It has been great fun for me to hunt down my old favourites to share with her -- Ramona the Pest and Ribsy, Pippi Longstocking, The Great Brain series, The Borrowers, Sarah Plain and Tall, and so many more. Or maybe "share" isn't the right word -- it's more like tossing fish to a hungry seal, and she gulps them down without pausing to discuss them with me or even to let me know if she liked them or not. She just wants to read. It warms my heart. Her five-year-old brother is a more reluctant reader, but he has decided presents are a good thing, so I've also been giving him some little books for his own. Today we sat together on the couch and read Splat the Cat and Mortimer.
I remember in grade school having teachers and the librarian read to us, and we worked with older students as reading tutors. When it was my turn to be a tutor to someone younger, it felt like revisiting all my old friends to return to Dick and Jane. Yes, I am old enough to have grown up reading Dick and Jane.
As part of my preparation for the anticipated quarantine this fall, I went to Valu Village and stocked up on a stack of books, mostly novels, to tide me over. It has been so long since I could go to the library! But I've already made quite a dent in the stack, so I may have to go get more. I collect the already-read books in boxes in the dining room. At one point I was going to take them to a nursing home, but I think that's kiboshed now with Covid. Also the idea of having a little book sale. Maybe next year. Meanwhile, they keep piling up. Which is good, because if we get to the point where Valu Village has to close, I may need to re-read all these books. Because I can't imagine a single day going by without reading.
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