The gift of reading

When it comes to gift-giving, we’re people of the books, Dr. D. and I. All those neat rectangular packages. So packable. So easy to wrap. So--okay--predictable. But what could be better? I am one of those romantics who sees a book cover as a door ready to be opened to--what? An idea? A world? A new way of seeing? Or just (just???) a good story to entertain.

Around this time last year I wrote about the pleasure of giving and receiving books. To recommend a book you have loved seems like a gift that goes so much farther than even the nicest cashmere sweater or snazzy new i-thing. We recently had some recommendations in the family that went like this: Zach read Kate DiCamillo’s “Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.” He said it was the best book he had read all year and that he cried at the end. Wow.

So I bought “Edward Tulane” for Cameron and Ryan, who tore through it in two days because they couldn’t bear to stop reading. And, like Zach, they were teary at the end.
So now, Sam, Mia, guess what’s in those rectangular packages with YOUR names on it.

Crying at the end of a book--what could be better? It means both that the book had the power to touch and that you opened your heart to it and let yourself be touched. A truly perfect gift at any time of the year.

For book recommendations for kids, check out my friend Deborah Sloan’s blog, The Picnic Basket. For a wonderful selection of books around Boston, my favorites are Brookline Booksmith, Porter Square Books, and Harvard Book Store. And, for the gift of poetry, the one and only Grolier Poetry Book Shop.

Back in touch next year--I’m going to read a book!