I love books, I love the look of them, I love the feel of them. I love having books close by. When did I first discover the joy of books? I've thought about that and my best recollection would be when I discovered a novel for boys about a kid named Chip Hilton, a series of books about a high school boy who excelled in sports, what else would a kid want to read about. The series was written by a former coach named Clair Bee. I don't remember which one in particular, I wish I did, but I do remember the feeling it gave me. It opened up a world outside of my own which I could inhabit whenever I wanted to, almost a secret world. I was lucky in that I had a mother who abetted my new pasttime and would buy me one book after the other in the series. I loved them, matter of fact I went on e-bay sometime back and bought a set of them to see if what I remembered about the books still held true. I was not dissapointed, they were well written books and kids would like them today still. I wonder if kids still read as much as they did? I'm sure there's a study out about that, but there is so many other diversions vying for their attention. Ah to be a young person in this, the Buck Rogers era. Oh well, I had my day and I loved it, I'm happy growing up when I did.

The verse under the picture is by Arnold Lobel and it's called, Books to the Ceiling.

Books to the ceiling, books to the sky.

My pile of books are a mile high.

How I love them!

How I need them!

I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.