Reading Is A Joy For Some

I'm an avid reader and have been since the days of a little book with Dick and Jane as hero and heroine. Even in first grade, I loved picking up those small books to read about Dick and Jane and the other people and pets in their life. That feeling has never left me.

When I am ready to begin reading a new book, I feel that sense of finding treasure in the words on the page. Open to page one and an adventure begins. Granted, I don't always have the same fulfilled feeling when I close a book. Some are far more satisfying than others. But I usually find something of interest, something of merit in the majority.

As Dr. Seuss said so well in the poster above, I will read anywhere. I don't believe I could get through a trip without a book or two or three. I watch many people in airport waiting areas sitting and staring into space. What a sad waste. They could be reading!!!

I also know that not all people feel as I do about reading. Children's publishers are constantly searching for books for a group of kids known as reluctant readers. Capture their interest and maybe they will get turned on to reading. Or perhaps not. Years ago, when I was teaching a class of emotionally disturbed children, I struggled to help one boy who could not read. He was ten years old and reading was painful, except when he read about the continent of Africa. Give him a book or magazine about that subject, and he read flawlessly and eagerly. Give him a book about two kids who lived in Wyoming on a horse ranch, and he floundered from beginning to end. Needless to say, I scoured the library for reading material on Africa.

Many people claim they do not have time to read. Moms with a career, kids, and a house to care for truly are pressed for time, but even they can eke out a few minutes here and there if they want to read. It's the same with those who want to write. If the desire is there, you make the time.

I finished a book of more than 900 pages last night. It's the second book in a trilogy by Ken Follett, and when I closed the cover, I could only sigh and wonder how long I'd have to wait for Book 3.