Three Days, Three Quotes – Day 1

I was tagged in this MONTHS ago, and I am ashamed to say I can’t find the original post because the draft has been sitting in my to-write box since June (I’m so sorry!) I did decide all those months ago that I wanted to do a Neil Gaiman quote, because he is one of my all-time favorite authors and I love to highlight his work and the impact he’s had on my life as often as possible.

This quote in particular means a great deal to me because I was raised to be an avid reader from a young age, but it was much harder for my parents and stepparents to get my younger siblings into reading. My eldest little sister has still only read about 20 books in her entire life for pleasure, and she takes after her mother that way, who traded in books for balls early on (she was on the varsity softball team in high school; her daughter, my sister, is now on the varsity team for field hockey.) However, my youngest sister adores reading, primarily nonfiction “science books” and graphic novels. My mom tries very hard to fill her house with books, from having our guest room double as the library (complete with floor-to-ceiling shelves), bookshelves in every other room in the house, and manga in the bathroom like What’s Michael and Maison Ikkoku. I definitely strive to be like her in my adult life, and constantly volunteer at my local library to inspire other children to read and explore the wonderful world of literature.

If you haven’t participated in this book tag yet, but have always wanted to, I’m tagging you in this now. I’d love to see this get around again. It’s quick and very fun, I promise 🙂

[Image: A drawing of a Neil Gaiman quote, and underneath, a child looking up at a sign that says ‘school library.’ Quote reads: “The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to show them have reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books, and letting them read them.” Neil Gaiman.]