All Things Children's Literature
About Me
My Story in Verse
How I Became a Reader
By Lauren
It seems much too obvious
to state here that
I love reading.
After all,
this is a site dedicated to:
reading books
reviewing books
reflecting about books.
Of course
I love reading.
I love
the thrill that rushes through me
in me
around me
when I open up a good book.
I love
escaping reality
losing myself in words and pictures
I love
beautiful illustrations
and beautiful characters
and beautiful writing
I love
when a scene or an image is
so perfectly and eloquently expressed
you read it
then reread it and reread it
to wrap your mind around the words.
Or sometimes you just sit there
staring into space
and let the words wrap around your mind.
But
I didn’t always love reading.
As a child and teenager, I struggled with reading anything
that was different from
that was outside of
my very narrow interests.
I fiercely loved a few books
but I painfully trudged my way through most books
missing stories
missing out
But
Then I started teaching children
and I starting reading to them
with them
for them
Until one day,
I found that I was reading
For me
and reading
and reading
This is a journey I am still on
will forever be on
discovering new stories
discovering new writers
discovering new ways to read
I have journeyed from being
a reluctant reader
to a teacher
to a lover of books
to a librarian
Children’s literature is truly a beautiful thing,
all too-often overlooked
or looked down upon by adults.
But great depth is hidden therein
And it awoke
stirred
aroused in me
a love for reading that is meant to be shared.
I discover this every day:
through my job at a school library
during car drives when I listen to audio books
before bed in the comfortable glow of light.
Through all these books
I’m learning new things about myself
new things about others
and now more than ever
I want to help others become readers too:
Children
and adults
Because if I became a reader
then
you can too