Welcome to Another World

Jasper and GG

When I was a little girl, I learned how to lay so quietly among adults that they would think I was asleep. They would talk openly and freely as adults rather than as adults talk when children were present.  I wasn't being sneaky or evil or trying to get some gossip, I just loved listening to adult conversations. I was a very shy little girl--one aunt didn't know I could talk until she walked past my sister's and my bedroom and I was talking to my dolls. I was maybe three. So, I really enjoyed listening to their uncensored conversations.  

I think this desire to be somehow a part of other's worlds is why I love books. I love the way I can find other worlds by getting lost in words and phrases. I can listen in on people's conversations. And it's way better than eavesdropping because I am invited into these discussions. 

As a child we always had books around. When I started first grade, the Bookmobile would come around to the school every other week or maybe it was once a month, but it was on a specific day. Teachers would take their students out to the traveling library and we could select three books. Then Mom would come pick us up--a special treat--so she could check out some books for herself. 

My grandmother Nanny lived in Ontario, California--the next city over. Ontario had the largest most beautiful old library. Brick and wood and a pillar of the community. Oh it was a grand old building. The children's books were in the basement. Heaven. Those large windows and that wonderful scent of old books.  By the way, that scent has been reproduced in candles! I kid you not. A study was conducted in 2009 to look into the smell of old books. Matija Strlic, the lead scientist behind that study, described the smell of an old book:

A combination of grassy notes with a tang of acids and a hint of vanilla over an underlying mustiness, this unmistakable smell is as much a part of the book as its contents. (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/that-old-book-smell-is-a-mix-of-grass-and-vanilla-710038/)

Yes, books have always been an important part of my life. They have always been a part of my children's lives and my daughter-in-law's life, as they have been an important part of my grandchild's. 

My grandboy had a whole slew of books at his house and at ours. Many he had outgrown; so, when there was a book drive to help less fortunate kids get books, he and I went through all these books to donate to the drive. 

When I first explained to him that many many children didn't have any books, he didn't understand. He just shook his head with the thought of, "I mean, books were, you know, BOOKS." I went on and explained that many families didn't have extra money that would give them the luxury of buying books. With great incredulousness, he said, "Books cost money?!" With that new understanding, he dove into his bookcase here and at home, giving others two boxes of gently used books. Then we went to the bookstore and I allowed him to buy two books to donate and one for himself. He happily helped me carry his boxes to the donation station. And being pleased with himself, they took a picture of him and his boxes. Dang he was cute.

March is National Reading Month. What made me think of all this today is that I received an email from the Toys for Tots Literacy Program. They are asking for donations so that kids can get the books they need, "...so that children have a fun way to close the reading gap and help improve their academic success, while also sparking their imagination, exposing them to new worlds, and setting them on a path to a lifetime of learning—a critical way to help break the cycle of poverty."

Author Beverly Cleary

With life in general, and especially during this year of sheltering-in-place, we often get wound up in our own issues and worlds, forgetting something small like a child's book can make a huge difference in someone else's life. With the recent death of children's author, Beverly Cleary, we can remember our own love of children's books, our own love of becoming involved with other children--those next door kids and those other world kids. I urge you to take some time, grab a book, and listen in on those amazing conversations.

And so it goes
peace~~~