Readers Circle
The Power of the Imagination
As you can tell from our WEB site we believe reading is a powerful, transformative process that all children should have a chance to experience.
Many of us who are passionate readers have special memories related to the role books have played in our lives – a fond memory of a parent reading to us, a magical moment when a new world opened up to us through a special book, a book that impacted us so greatly it changed the course of our life. So, please join our Readers Circle and share with others these magic moments so others can see and enjoy the power of reading.
Please share with us your favorite memory.
Since I was a child, whenever I walk into a library, to this day, I feel rich. My library card is the key to the universe. Even in a small library, there is such a vast resource of imagination and knowledge, it feels never-ending. My cup runneth over.
Deborah, Maine
When I was 12, an army brat living in Taiwan in 1961, my dad took me to a bookstore in Taipei, and I picked up this book called, To Kill a Mockingbird. It was a bootleg copy, of course I didn’t know that then. It was the first time I had been allowed to choose a book I wanted, and my first exposure to a new book in print, and my first “adult” book. I’m not sure why I picked that one, it might have been that my choices were limited by my father.
I enjoyed that book so much, I read it every year for years. I still have that book, and it will always be special because it was my first grownup book, and it happened to be one of the best stories I have ever read. Serendipity!
Sara, Utah
My memories of the Bryant Library [in Roslyn, NY] are simple in nature. After using the Duck Pond Park, fishing in Silver Lake or riding my bike from Greenvale to the High School, the Library was a warm, friendly place with a bathroom. When I was especially cold, I lingered and learned that they had books there, too. The best thing about a Library is that the doors are always open and if you go there often enough you will find that sitting and reading a book is about as good as it gets.
Steve, Ohio
When I was six, there was no better way to spend a summer afternoon than sitting under a cool tree and reading “The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien. In those pages, I could disappear into far off lands that were beautiful, magical and yes, sometimes treacherous - I was enraptured.
Paris – NYC
I delighted in my childhood visits to the public library in Cleveland
Heights, Ohio. First off there was the old century charm of the building,
so alluring that I would visit even when I did not need a book. Then there
was the magical enchantment of browsing the old wood shelves for the perfect
story. The one I would curl up with every night before I went to bed.
Beki, Seattle, Washington
My mother was of the mind that no one could tell a story better than the Bronte sisters and at age 9 she introduced me to Jane Eyre. Although the vocabulary was quite a challenge the story kept me reading. I did not know that such horror and passion could be found in a book. With her grandiloquent style, Charlotte Bronte kept me up till all hours.
Many years later I read this book to my own children with some translation in the process. To this day they all remember this story and our time together reading it. It is still one of my favorite books.
Debe, Alaska
There are not too many books I’ve read more than once, but every seven or eight months, I have to sit down again with Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. .... In college I read it a third time and became convinced it was the greatest novel ever written. In days of depression and sadness, I have picked up Gatsby if for no other reason than to hear a lovely, familiar and ever so kind voice.
Max, New York City, New York
I’ve used the Chicago Public Library for the past couple of years as a
quiet study space and a resource for literature, reference, and
written/recorded music. No matter how hectic my life gets I know I’ll
always be able to find peace (and probably more than a few good
books!) at an empty table there.
Chris, Illinois
My father gave me a beautiful edition of A.A.Milne’s, Now We are
Six for my sixth birthday. From the poems and simple illustrations, I
created an entire imaginary world of fabulous people and places, life
enriched through the joy of reading.
Bob, Oregon
My most poignant reading experience ever happened just this past year, while reading the “His Dark Materials” series by Philip Pullman. The series includes three books, The Golden Compass (a.k.a., The Northern Lights), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. I was completely immersed in that fantastic world, so much that I bawled through the last seven chapters, both tears of joy and sorrow.
Bennett, California
My first “big book” as a child was the “Island of the Blue Dolphins” and I still remember how much I loved reading it. The heroine in it was a young girl, and her world took me far away from the world I knew. I remember being reluctant to finish it because I never wanted the story to end!
Natalie, New York City
My favorite book read to me as a child was Ken Grahame’s Wind in the Willows. My mother swore to her death that it was Toady’s influence that caused all of my exploits of speed and daring do. Who knows, she could have been right.
Ken, Utah
(who is currently in the process of getting ready to try to break a land speed record on a motorcycle, on a paved road, not at the salt flats)
My favorite book is “The Man Who Loved Children” by Australian author Christina Stead. The way in which she presents her dysfunctional family is brilliant, fearless and oddly respectful. It’s hard to find Stead’s books these days because she was an ardent communist. She needs a revival.
Tamara, Louisville, Kentucky
“I love both the solitude and pleasure of being lost in a wonderful book, and the rousing (and often loud!) discussions shared with my book club.”
Dawn, Maine
