I love a good quote. When I come across one on Pinterest or Instagram, I usually save them to reflect on and in this case write about as I’ve done in past posts.
Rick Holland, poet, shared this gem with the world that was then made beautiful when superimposed on the world touched with gold.
How else could I learn about a war I wasn’t alive for or empathize with someone from a different culture? Learning from books is equally as important as being transported by them be it in fantasy and science fiction. So why did this quote strike a chord with me?
Probably because I understand the significance and weight of why reading is integral to our development as human beings and why I chose a profession that values continual learning. I’ve spent the last decade (and will continue) to demonstrate to teenagers the power of reading for their own learning and understanding. It can be an escape when life is difficult, it can be an instructional manual for how someone rose above a particularly trying life event, it can be entertainment of the most basic kind. I know I get screen exhaustion and reading a book with the paper in your hand can cure that. (It might also be why puzzles and card games have made a comeback in a big way in our library).
And I’m also seeing it in my own kids. As third graders, my boys are obsessive– and possessive– of their books. We make trips to our library at least once a week, they read daily, and I’ve caught them plenty of times with a book and a flashlight past bedtime. I want there to be plenty of opportunities to engage with others who have the same feelings too. And while I’ve been involved in planning book festivals and author visits, I’ve never visited the Hudson Children’s Book Festival, so I’ll be making the drive with my kids there this Saturday to bask in the excitement of the printed book. I’ll post a followup after Saturday to share how it all went.
But be reminded, as Holland’s quote speaks to me, that the world truly does belong to readers. It’s evident in our vocabulary. It’s a cheap vacation when there isn’t money to go on a physical one. Food and beverage feels more indulgent with one in front of you. It is the aha moment when you learn something new. It’s the mirror, the window, or the sliding glass door. So if it’s been a while since you picked up a book, try again. Make it a priority. If it already is, you’re in good company.
As a large city school district, we have the ability to host three drives a year: October, January, and May and collect about 100 units per drive which is amazingly powerful. A smattering of staff, but the majority of these units are donated by upperclassmen looking to help our community.
Definitely bring the comfortable shoes, though I know the temptation for those like me, were to also be a bit fashion-forward. So even if you wore the *almost* comfortable shoes to match the dress, do this stretch when you get back to your room each night since you’ll be on your feet all day.
Dress the part. By nature, I’m a dress-loving, dress-wearing kind of gal. That’s not to say you can’t be comfortable, so wear what works for you, as long as it doesn’t look like you’re going to run three miles when you leave the conference hall. Dressing the part may mean being photo ready when you meet your idol (see picture) or to use as a conversation-starter when swimming in a sea of colleagues from across the country who you don’t know, but want to get to know!
Indulge in local food and try to do at least one touristy thing. I was in Chicago, so that did mean that I would have to stop for some deep dish pizza. I also took at a picture at The Bean and walked along the water in that picturesque city.
The format is simple– opening, lunch, and closing keynotes by engaging authors with something to say. Then, four ingeniously organized panels of authors and illustrators centered around a central idea. Interspersed within that are a few breaks for vendor time while publishers panels stump for their top five picks from their publishing houses. Then, putting the cherry on the sundae, there is an announcement by The Boston Globe/Horn Book on their award-winners.
