Brock with Lesser Prince for Christmas.
What more could a writer want than to share the joy of reading with the next generation. When I was growing up, we didn’t have easy access to T.V. and the internet didn’t even exist. Both of my parents were avid readers and while I didn’t start that way, my dad converted me one summer while we were hanging out at our cabin. Basically he created an incentive that made a bunch of sense to me. I could read or help him dig a well by hand.
My mom had purchased the first few books in Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan series. In total there were 28 in books in the series and by the end of our vacation my hands were soft as a baby’s bottom and I’d read every last one of them, having made my mom run out and buy the entire lot. My parents were thrilled because they were convinced that strong reading skills were critical to my development.
Later on I discovered that my home town of Sigourney, Iowa had a well stocked library. My mind was boggled by the fact that there were so many wonderful books available. I absolutely loved visiting our library and finding my next adventure. Through a small act on my parent’s part, they’d shared their joy of reading with me. What a tremendous gift they gave me.
I’ve recently had the opportunity to connect with a couple of young readers, Brock and Aiden who have just started reading my stories. I love that my parent’s joy of reading has spread in such an infectious way.
If my dad were still alive I’d thank him for digging that well by himself.
