READING

In my neck of the woods, Winter has tried very hard to settle in, but Spring-like episodes keep popping up. Temps in the 40s (low to high), clouds/fog/rain, partly-sunny skies (fleeting, fleeting) . . . but nothing stays around long enough to say, "Ah, today it's really Winter." Or, "Oho, today it's really Spring-like."

The calendar tells us that Sunday will be mid-Winter--February 2 falls smack-dab in the middle of Winter, and to help us celebrate, Punxatawney Phil, the famous groundhog, will see his shadow, or not. Either way, Winter is still only half over.

For those of us who prefer to stay indoors, Winter is a perfect season for reading. (So is hot and humid summer, rainy spring, and windy autumn.) Today Thursday's Child will share some quotations about reading. Some might even make you chuckle or smile a bit. 

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From Beverly Cleary, age 103, who wrote books for middle-grade kids, especially boys; her books are still being read:

My mother always kept library books in the house, and one rainy Sunday afternoon - this was before television, and we didn't even have a radio - I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered I was reading and enjoying what I read.

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Mary Oliver, American poet:

As a child, what captivated me was reading the poems myself and realizing that there was a world without material substance which was nevertheless as alive as any other.

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Abraham Lincoln:

If I like a thing, it just sticks after once reading it or hearing it.

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From Maya Angelou:

Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.

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From John Wooden, who was head coach of UCLA basketball:

The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.

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An encouraging thought from Lawrence Clark Powell, librarian and author:

We are the children of a technological age. We have found streamlined ways of doing much of our routine work. Printing is no longer the only way of reproducing books. Reading them, however, has not changed.

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And a cautionary thought from Ray Bradbury, author of science fiction:

Thank you, all you readers, who help keep a culture alive. Pass it on.