Sometimes you need something exceptional to start your day..something more than just a cup,of tea..and around Day Two that something better be not just good but great. The brain is beginning to send hints of maximum capacity.
Looking across the room at Kate DiCamillo can lift the morning fog and hearing her speak can remind you why you do this thing of being a children’s librarian.
Kate just finished her role as Ambassador and came home from her travels with great news. She had heard about the demise of reading and readers but saw a different story as she visited school after school.
“Boy, books really, really matter to kids.” “Stories are a way to talk about things without talking about them.”
Her new book is Raymie Nightingale.
It’s story about who leaves, who stays and who raises you. In Kate’s own childhood she made it by seeing little moments of beauty. Those little moments are sprinkled throughout the story of Raymie in a jar of candy corn or a beam of light streaking through a window.
Kate grew up in Florida and she has spent the past few days of her book tour in places that she knew so well. She hasn’t cried this much in long, long time and she is hearing story after story from readers about how her books offered their bits of light and saved lives.
One thing Kate has figured out is that so many people ..children for sure but some adults too…are walking on “not knowing what is inside of you. Not knowing you are capable of wonderful things.”
Little bits of light anyone?