When I was in grade school, I was that girl in the corner of the library, classroom, or playground with her nose in a book. A total nerd. You know, the one with braces, thick glasses, mismatched clothes, and bowl-cut hairstyle complete with bangs that were too short. That was me. I was a book nerd... and proud of it. I preferred my books to real people. In books I could be carried away to fantastical places and kids' books really have some of the most imaginative, most magical places, and as well as the most I-would-give-anything-to-be-that-character feeling.
Places where children never have to grow up and fairies existed; where one can tesseract into Utopian planets and fly in the mists on strange mythical beings; where little people 'borrow' from big people, living in a miniature world; where a cupboard transforms your toys into living creatures; where hobbits, dwarves, elves, and my favourite Ents live; where imagination creates a kingdom in the woods; where you can have a tea parties and wonder about the raven; where animals talk; where everything is a dazzling emerald behind green spectacles; where an ordinary lake is seen as Lake of Shining Waters; where dinosaurs and people live together; where people have animal daemons; and so many more!* Not to mention all the mythical places such as Atlantis, Mount Olympus, Camelot, Avalon, Shangri-La, or even the Fortress of Solitude.
If I could choose one character to be, I would want to be Anne Shirley... or Nancy Drew but it's so difficult to choose just one book-world. I've always loved the universe Douglas Adams created with planets like Ursa Minor Beta, Magrathea, and Milliways. Although I think the unpredictable chaos would probably be too much in the long run. But the one place that I always wished existed whenever I read the books is the Forgotten Realms (think D&D, or Middle Earth for gaming geeks). The role-playing aspect has inspired some of the most entertaining novels from authors like R.A. Salvatore and Elaine Cunningham, and continues to be an imaginative haven for geeks everywhere.
Literacy is paramount in education. Experts recommend that 40% of the curriculum should be devoted to reading and teaching reading strategies. We have to teach our students to love reading, to see books as an escape from reality where anything is possible.
*List of the books/book places referred to: Neverland; A Wrinkle in Time; The Borrowers; The Indian in the Cupboard; Middle Earth; Bridge to Teribithia; Wonderland; Chronicles of Narnia (or Charlotte's Web); Wizard of Oz; Anne of Green Gables; Dinotopia; The Golden Compass.
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