I also had access to our classroom library. We were allowed one book home per night. I'd check out my one and next day return and and ask for another. Like Oliver in Oliver Twist, I wanted some more, and more after that. Classics or comics, it didn't matter. It was all good.
Today, I have piles of books in every room of my house - mostly nonfiction and history, and have a huge affection for Hollywood biographies and memoirs. I usually have two or three books going at one time. I keep a book in the car and in my purse in case I have a few minutes of quiet time.
Sometimes I can feel the words pour gently into my head and I ride the rhythm of the prose to a peaceful destination. Sometimes the words explode and spark, new ideas form, new connections are made and I find myself flying down new paths to knowledge and new topics previously unexplored.
G-d, does it get better than that? I can't even imagine.
Miranda on the Veranda wasn't a children's classic and, I imagine, has long been out of print. But for this little six-year old girl, clutching her first library card with unabashed delight, this simple little storybook was the start of a lifelong love affair with the power and pleasure of the printed word.
Thank you, Miranda, after all these years, for sharing your veranda with me.
Article comments
1 - Vikk Simmons
What truly lovely writing. Nice job.
2 - Roberta Rosenberg
Thank you, much appreciated -- especially coming from a writing colleague,