The Magic of Books

Can you remember the first book your ever read and how you felt when you finished it?  I don’t mean the ones you shared with your parents or a teacher, but the first book you read, from start to finish, completely on your own?  I can, and for me it was a moment of realization.  Books are magical!  Once you get started with a really good book, you find the magic and it is hard to put it down.  I remember being amazed that I wanted to carry on reading, to find out what happened next, over watching TV or doing anything else.  And to get me to do that, it must have been magic. 

This week we have had our book fair organized and led by some truly outstanding students in upper school.  I have loved watching everyone visit the fair with wide eyes and a hunger to get their hands on books. Their eagerness to read and let their imaginations soar with an enticing book, is just magical. However, like lots of adults, reading became more functional, for a while reading for pleasure just wasn’t there.  Thankfully I did rediscover it some time ago and now I love reading for fun, though for the most part, it is digital.  My son has just rediscovered his love of reading and I am excited to share thoughts with him on books we might have both read. 

If reading for pleasure has faded a little in your life, can I really encourage you to reconnect to that feeling you had with your first ever book and rediscover that magic that lies within its pages, be they paper or digital, and let the magic take your imagination on a journey.