BOOKS = BLESSINGS

BY WALLACE CALEB BATES

At one point in my young career, I spent a year helping students learn how to read. It was a noble work, given the great doors of opportunity that the privilege of literacy unlocks.


Combing through boxes of my childhood books this evening reminded me of the gift my mother, Lauren Bates, gave me as a young boy. Whenever she had the chance, she read to me: Little Critter, The Crippled Lamb, The Story of Ferdinand, The Giving Tree, Love You Forever.

As I sit here and see people my age welcoming children to the world, yearning to one day be a father myself, I cannot help but feel joy in my heart as I reflect on the importance literacy has played in my life.

Books are a blessing. Almost nothing else compares to sitting down with a good read and escaping to a far-off world or time. I am not a big fiction reader; most of my reads are non-fiction, but time traveling to learn about the past bears a similar escape.

I recently discovered the beautiful gift of Audible and the world of audiobooks. There is something special about hearing a story told in the voice of the one who wrote it, inflections carrying meaning beyond the ink on the page.

But as incredible as technology is, nothing will ever compare to the simple, timeless act of sitting down with a child, book in hand and reading aloud.

That is why I am looking forward to visiting Head Start tomorrow as part of Read Across America Week. It is one thing to talk about the power of literacy, but it is another to put that belief into action, to be the voice that brings a story to life for a child.

I do not know what faces I will meet or what books I will be reading yet, but I do know this: for a few minutes, I get to be part of something bigger than myself.

I get to share in a moment that might plant a seed that, with time and care, could grow into a lifelong love of reading.

Because books are a blessing, and every child deserves to open their great doors of opportunity.

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