Somerset Maugham said, “To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”
I heard this quote on the Writer’s Almanac today and it struck me that this is at least part of the reason I hope that my children will be readers. It is still a struggle to get T to sit on my lap long enough to make it through an entire book, but I am happy that he shows an interest and always asks for a book before bed, even if it is partly to delay bedtime. Sam and Maggie and I are now reading A Horse and His Boy, one of the Chronicles of Narnia, and I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Reading this series again reminds me of the first time I read through them with Amy, Joel, and Patrick. I think they were ages 8, 6, and 4 at the time. I would turn off the light in the bedroom and read with a flashlight, partly because the children seemed to listen better that way, and partly because I couldn’t see the messy room while I was reading and feel that I should be tidying it instead of reading. It worked pretty well. We made it through the entire series. At the end of The Last Battle, the final book in the series, there is a scene where all the characters from the series are brought back together for a heavenly reunion. It is a beautifully written piece and moved me to tears. When I closed the cover and turned on the lights in the bedroom, the children saw that I had tears in my eyes. Patrick sprang out of bed to comfort me. “It’s ok, mama”, he said, “We can start the books all over again tomorrow.”
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