It is the mission of the work I choose to do, to raise readers. I want to excite them with the possibilities of the book and the story within. I want to ignite the spark of imagination, reflection and learning that comes from good books and I invest enormous amounts of energy in doing this, always thinking I know my target audience, I plan my actions and steer my motivations to raise these readers.
So, it was and is a pleasant revelation to observe a reader on the side lines of my work in my work house. Bookworm by the luck of the draw has the good fortune to have found Analia Braganza ( or she found us) and Analia joined Bookworm within the Fellowship Program, keen to grow and learn. She knew very, very little about books, almost nothing about children’s books and yet she accepted to work with Bookworm and us with her.
Analia has been in the house now for a little over 2 months. She has been to numerous school sessions ( over 50 in the past 2 months) and sorted, covered, mended, checked in and checked out hundreds of books. And the books have been talking back to Analia.
As I leave the Library for lunch/ to pick up my son and return, I have observed her reading at the Bookworm Counter. She is making her way diligently through the shelves, choosing books with care, marking those that someone might say is a good read and in many ways, catching up and catching on !
I was blessed to choose a book for her the other day and I selected My Great GrandPa Joe, I know not my motivations but I know I wanted Analia to read that book. She did and we had a brief nano second conversation around it and it was good.
A reader is raising herself in the Bookworm house and I am grateful to stand back and have the opportunity to watch her grow.