Because We Are Readers

We have fought our way through Narnia to our rightful places on the throne at Cair Paravel.

We have walked along the yellow brick road, through forests and china countries and fields of poppies. We have beheld the great gleaming towers of the City of Oz and the dark dank castle of the Witch of the West.

We have made our way through places curiouser and curiouser as we traverse Wonderland in search of a white rabbit.

We have picnicked on honey and haycorns beneath the bright blue blustery skies of the Hundred Acre Wood.

We have journeyed through Middle Earth to the Lonely Mountain, the Mines of Moria, we have seen the treetop splendor of Lothlorien and the gleaming white towers of Gondor. We've gone there and then back again to our cozy holes in the ground.

We have rested our feet in the soft white grass while the peppermint wind blows our hair at that place where the sidewalk ends.

We have ridden the moving staircases, explored dungeons and libraries and forests while learning lessons in magic and friendship at Hogwarts castle.

We have ridden on specks of dust and snowflakes, talked to giant elephants and warmed the heart of an odd green fellow in the town of Whoville.

We have flown high over pirate ships and mermaid lagoons, bedded down with lost boys and found great adventure in Neverland.

We have sailed with Long John Silver and the buccaneers in search of buried gold on Treasure Island.

We have sat at the Round Table amongst the fabled knights of Camelot.

We have robbed from the rich and given to the poor, and had many a merry adventure doing it, in the shaded glades of Sherwood Forest.

We have stood where the Grickle-grass grows and the wind smells slow and sour when it blows and learned lessons that take seed deep within us.

We have loved and lost and raised our fingers in salute in the dystopian world of Panem.

We have looked out over the breathtaking farmland of Green Gables from our little turret room, while Marilla cooks breakfast below and Matthew does early morning chores in the barn.

We have traveled the miniature roads and slept the sleep of the enchanted within the realms of Fairyland.

We have stood beneath roaring chocolate waterfalls and ridden pink candy boats to marvelous invention rooms in Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

We have wandered The Lands Beyond with Milo in search of Rhyme and Reason.

We have climbed the ladder to a magic treehouse and ventured to every conceivable moment in history for some wonderfully dangerous adventures.

We have roamed the forest and lakes of Camp Half-Blood, making friends...and enemies...amongst our own kind.

We have huddled beneath the blankets of our bed in Misselthwaite Manor and listened to the lonely wail of the wind as it whistles around the house....and what could that other sound be?

We have traveled Inkworld from one end to the other, with dusty fingered men and maiden aunts who just might surprise us.

We have delved deep into the Center of the Earth and discovered what wondrous and monstrous things await us there.

We have spent many a lazy afternoon sitting on an upturned bucket in Zuckerman's Barn, among the hay and the pigs and the spiders.

We have had run-ins with bears and survived long winters, built homes and left homes, little houses all.

We have loved and lost, yearned for adventure and realized the beauty of home within the rooms of Orchard House.

We have crept quietly, fearfully, through the dark corridors of Dracula's castle while the children of the night make sweet music outside.

We have drowsed away the days and ridden for our lives away from headless spectres in the shadows of Sleepy Hollow.

We have been shipwrecked on a desert island with a Swiss pastor and his family, and learned a good many lessons about nature and survival while having a surprisingly good time.

We have dodged dangers and had great adventures with our best friend Baloo in a hot sticky jungle in India.

We have lived and explored an old French train station with a boy named Hugo and learned a bit of forgotten history in the process.

We have stood atop the high towers of Castle Frankenstein and waited with bated breath for that fated bolt of lightning.

We have explored the banks and sailed the sultry Mississippi River with Tom, Huck, and an assorted cast of colorful characters.

We have traveled by peach from the dismal shores of England to the bustling metropolis of New York City with a most unusual set of friends.

We have made friends with rats and scullery maids and mysterious Indian servants while surviving the indignities of Miss Minchin's boarding school.

We have roamed the Foster's woods and learned deep and lasting lessons while floating in a rowboat with a man who never dies.

We have lost ourselves in the grim German woods but found beautiful princesses, charming princes, and wicked witches in return.

We have lived in hotels where witches convene to hatch evil plans, houses with seven gables, penguins ice skating in the basement, clocks in the walls, cupboards under the stairs, wardrobes in empty bedrooms, portraits locked away where no one can see, nannies with magic carpet bags, boxcars in the backyard, and ghosts in the garden.

We have lived, learned, and traveled worlds both real and imaginary, because we are readers.