bibliophile - n. a person who loves books
I was watching a 4th grade girl as she was trying to choose a book to read the other day at school; she picked up Charlotte's Web, flipped it open, then quickly put it back down.
"Charlotte's Web is a good book," I said.
She shook her head. "It's too hard; there are too many words."
She then proceeded to pick up and put down several more books in a row. It seems her sole criteria for choosing what book to read was not what it was about, but whether or not it looked easy. If it had too many words in it, or looked "too hard", she refused to even give it a try. She eventually ended up with one of those easy-reader books that a 1st grader could read. It was amusing at first, but then it made me sad. How is she ever going to learn to love books if she only reads those she finds "easy"? Think of all the great books she's missing out on!
I'm glad that when I was growing up my parents filled our house with books both easy and hard. They bought boxes of books from library sales and let me choose books from school book-orders. And if there was ever a book I wanted to read that seemed too hard, my mom or dad would read it with me. I was lucky. My parents taught me to love books and reading. They made me the bibliophile I am today. I just wish all kids were as lucky.
