The books we read (or someone reads to us) as children are the books we never forget. They shape us in ways we may not even recognize: how we see the world, what we believe to be true, what we think is just or unjust. We tuck their lessons away for safekeeping and bring them out—for the rest of our lives—whenever we need help understanding a frustrating situation or making a difficult decision.
You’re driving to work in the morning, going the speed limit, when someone roars by, nearly knocking your car over. You get mad, but finally calm yourself by thinking, “It’s okay. Slow and steady wins the race.” You’re probably not also thinking, I believe this because my mother read Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare” to me when I was 4 years old. But I bet that’s where it came from.
The books we read as children become a part of us. Have you ever noticed how many people use characters from children’s books as names for their pets, email addresses, sometime even their own children. These characters become almost like family to us. We first met them when our imaginations made little distinction between fantasy and reality, and we’ve lived with them longer than many of our “real” friends.
When I run into someone with a dog named Scout, for example, I know we have a mutual friend in a little girl from To Kill A Mockingbird. We can talk about her and share our impressions of her just as we could a real, live person we both knew. In that sense, children’s books also give us a comforting sense of community wherever we go.
What are your favorites and how have they shaped who you are?
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