How One Book Saved My Life

Not unlike many others, I had a rough childhood. My parents had four children by the age of 26 of which they only wanted two (they later told me). Our family was poor and both of my parents worked full time. There were also addiction problems. It’s fair to say that I was neglected physically and emotionally. Its a sad story and one that teachers witness every day in their classrooms.

When I was about 4 years old, someone gave me Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever. It was the only book I had as a child but it was more than enough. I loved that book! I read that book everyday. I started each day by opening the inside cover - “good morning!” it said with it’s bright cheerful sun. I would enjoy reading the book throughout the day. And then when I was ready to sleep I would flip to the back cover - “good night! sleep tight” said the smiling benevolent moon.

This book was a great source of comfort and joy to me and helped me to shut out the chaos and discomfort that I was experiencing in ‘real’ life.

Not only did that book comfort me but I also learned a lot from it. I learned my letters, numbers, colors, seasons, and lots of names of things. I fell in love with the characters and the stories. Perhaps even more importantly I learned about my feelings and my values. An example is in the story “The Country Mouse and the City Mouse”. At the end of that story Annie the country mouse tells her friends “I would rather lead a simple life in peace, than dine on riches in fear”. That statement resonated with me when I was 4, and still does today.

For the rest of my life I sought books to recreate those feelings of comfort and relatability. Books have comforted me my whole life. And I continue to learn about myself and the world around me from every book I read. I went on to have a fabulous life and part of that successful outcome can be attributed to what I learned in books. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned from books is that anything is possible, even for me.