Books: My Magic

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft  

I love books mainly because I have discovered that Stephen King is right. Books are magic! When I was a kid my parents and grandparents encouraged me to read.I can remember my Mama Maggie, Granny Jett, and Grandpa Cornelius reading to me and my Papa Jack having me read to him. Papa didn’t know how to read, so he knew how important it was for me to be a reader. My family made sure I was supplied with books. I was never told no when I ask for a new one.

The first books I can remember falling in love with were the Nancy Drew books. I wanted to be a girl detective like Nancy when I grew up. I still have my collection of Nancy Drew (all fifty something of them) in my bedroom. Nancy was not my only love; I also read Encyclopedia Brown, Pippi Longstocking, and Ralph the Motorcycle Mouse. I devoured books.

As I entered my teenage years, I discover the Flowers in the Attic books, Harlequin romances, and my one true love in books, Stephen King. During all of this, my parents never told me books were bad, I shouldn’t be reading that book, or in any way discouraged me from reading. I did hear why do you and Kim want to read that stuff by King, but never a “no.” They both read, so naturally I should read also.

Parents tell me everyday, “I can’t get them to read” talking about their kids. My question is: do you read? It is imperative that parents model what they want to see in their children. If parents don’t show their children that reading is important by engaging in reading themselves, their kids won’t read.  My parents read to me. I saw them and my grandparents reading. Even my Papa Jack, who could not read or write, looked at the newspaper every day, so I saw these people who were important in my life, that I looked up to, modeling a behavior that was passed on to me.

It was natural for me, starting when I married into a step-son, that I would read to my kids. Every night, there was a story before bedtime. Kids books were plentiful in my house. Dr. Seuss, Ninja Turtles, Goosebumps, and eventually, that new true love in the form of a boy wizard, Harry Potter littered bedroom floors and bedtime rituals. At book fair, I would buy seven or eight books and be ask for more the next week. I was happy to spend the money. Why? Because studies show that kids who read at least twenty minutes a day are the ones who are honor roll students not only in elementary and secondary schools but also in their college days. And I, like Stephen King, know that “Books are a uniquely portable magic” that I want in my life and my kids lives everyday.