Last night, I took my 3-year old nephew to the Scholastic Book Fair at his pre-school. And it. Was. Awesome! Witnessing his vivid enthusiasm, listening to his incessant chatter, crouching on the ground next to him while he “read”…It was so, so, so cool. I was so proud and giddy and relieved to see him genuinely excited about books. And I was filled with newfound determination to keep him excited about them as he grows up. To be a constant book lover advocate around him and my other nephew.
I’ve always been a book lover advocate (shocker, I know). It’s a task I joyfully take on everyday with everyone around me…Unfortunately most people aren’t interested in what I have to say. When I talk about books, people either politely smile and nod, blatantly ignore me, or point blank admit, “I don’t read. Reading is boring.” Reading is boring? I gasp inwardly. How…Just how? Don’t people understand reading is more than reading–more than black words on a white page? Reading is adventurous. Reading is life altering.
Reading is magic!
I want my nephew to grow up believing in that. I want all children to grow up believing in that. I want my friends and family members and co-workers and acquaintances to believe in that. I want the stranger I’ve never met to believe in that. But the only way to achieve such a thing is to be a book lover advocate. To share my passion for reading via this blog, Twitter and Facebook. To suggest books to those I know. To suggest books to those I don’t know, like the woman in line behind me at the grocery store staring at the rack of newly released novels. To take my nephews and nieces to book fairs. To give books as gifts.
To do whatever it takes to silence the naysayers and eliminate the evil phrase “I don’t read. Reading is boring.” Those words shouldn’t exist!
So, who’s with me? Who’s ready to be a book lover advocate? It’s never too late to join the cause!
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