National Read a Book Day

One of the many things I love about working in a bookstore is how, every now and then, the magic of the store unwraps…Like the other day when a mother sat in our big chair reading a book…with her daughter seated on her lap. It reminded me of when I was a little boy sitting atop my mother’s knee…and how the world became a magical place…when she would read to me. I smiled thinking how, like me, this girl is in for a wild ride…just because of the time her mother took…to introduce her to the wonders…inside the pages of a book. She’ll learn how a mouse can run up and down a clock…she’ll meet a storyteller named Mother Goose…she’ll learn how a cow can jump over the moon…and what to do with three mice on the loose. She’ll learn about three pigs…their houses…about some scary brothers Grimm…she’ll learn about a boy who kept crying wolf…and all the trouble that followed him. She’ll learn a monkey can be curious…how our need for heroes will never end…she’ll learn to say good night to the moon…and how a spider and a pig can be friends. And the day will come when from her mother’s knee…it will be time to say goodbye…The day she’ll take what her mother has taught her…flap her own wings…and fly. I imagine every time she opens a book…opens to its wonder, its laughter…its mystery…she’ll smile remembering where it all began…atop her mother’s knee. So on this day and every day remember…its never too late to start reading… for inside each book a magical world awaits… and herein lies the beauty of reading a book… because…it’s also never too late.