There Is No Frigate Like A Book

Like my little grandson here, the love of books was instilled in me at a young age. My parents were avid readers, and I was an equally eager observer. One had only to look at the books in their hands and see the intensity on their faces to know they were being introduced to people and places that captured their imagination. I wanted to be a part of that.

My mom and dad read with me...and before long, I was reading to myself. Constantly. At night. Under the covers. In the day. Hiding in corners. Concealed in closets. Anywhere and everywhere. Endlessly. Voraciously. Ecstatically.

I read Uncle Remus, Dr. Seuss (and Doolittle), Mother Goose, Hans Christian Andersen, Grimms Fairy Tales, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Carbonel: King of the Cats, Black Beauty, The Call of the Wild, Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, Robin Hood, Heidi, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, The Little Prince, and whatever else I could get my hands on. (And I got my hands on plenty!)

No wonder I love to look at this little guy, his chubby hands clenched on that book he's holding. Once again, a reader is born; and it brings me joy to know the torch has been passed.

There is no frigate like a book

To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

~Emily Dickinson