Is there any place more peaceful, more pleasant than a library? Where else can you find both tranquility and magic in one place? How can you travel without leaving home, or learn without a teacher or a blackboard? A book… those bound pages that transport us, broaden our horizons, and change our perspectives. Mystery novels, love stories, “self-help” books, encyclopedias, cookbooks—all books hold their own hint of mystery and their own opportunities for learning.
I feel so good when I walk into a bookstore. Coffee in hand, I love strolling through the aisles, discovering recommendations from the staff, and letting myself be guided to the clearance section where I can pick up several books for just a little. I love going to the children’s section to look for titles to give to my little princesses, or to share with my little ones at daycare. I love giving the gift of reading; I love that my daughters love and respect books, that they take care of them and handle them gently.
My distant memories are filled with moments of reading. I remember, as a teenager, settling into my room to read, listening to my favorite artist of the moment. I remember rainy days when I’d step out onto my balcony to read, gently lulled by the downpour. I remember my pre-mommy bus-and-subway commutes, during which I’d devour one book after another. I can still taste the coffee I used to love when I reread an old novel (the Hunger Games trilogy with an iced cappuccino… when I reread it with my daughter, I can still taste summer!!) and sometimes I remember the book I was reading when certain songs pop up on my playlist (for example, I remember what I was reading when I listen to Milky Chance!!)
Those many pages, filled with words, have the power to transport us, help us grow, and change us. It’s a guilty pleasure that, as a mom, I don’t get to indulge in very often anymore. I do, however, love telling my little princesses stories before bedtime. Snuggled up, nice and warm under our blankets, we can become members of the Paw Patrol, transform into Disney princesses, become students at Hogwarts—in short, nothing is impossible. And little by little, with their heads filled with new words and their eyes closed to recreate the imaginary world we left behind when we closed our book, my little princesses are whisked away into the sweet world of dreams. And there’s nothing more magical—for me, at least—than giving my daughters the magic of books.