Thanks for the Stories

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, this is the time of year I find myself thinking about all of the things for which I am grateful. As I started to write this blog, I made a list that included things like:

• Collaboration
• Questions
• Thoughtful Discussions
• Reflection

And then I moved to things like

• Inquisitive children
• Quiet time to think
• Blank pieces of paper

And then, I found myself jotting down:

• Books
• Interesting illustrations
• Poems

And it got me thinking a lot about children’s literature. I love children’s books. My own personal collection contains over 3,000 titles that have enchanted my family, my students, and myself. Authors and illustrators are the truest champions of literacy. Without them, there’d be no books. Without books, our children would not read. So, for this year’s Thanksgiving post, I would like to share my tribute to children’s authors. I am grateful for the amazing work of the legions people who write books that children want to read and want to personally say, Thank You to all of them.

Once upon a time,

Someone sat

Thinking…

     Creating…

          Crafting…

Characters like

Junie

     Amber

Harry

     Fudge

Jack

     Annie

Amelia

     Mudge

They sat, they dreamed, they wrote,

Of magic tree houses,

     magic school buses,

          magic castles,

To capture the

Imagination,

     Fascination,

          Curiosity,

               And awe

Of a child.

To any person who has ever written for a child, thank you. With each book and illustration, another reader is born.