For my last blog before Christmas, here are some great quotes celebrating books and reading, illustrated by the wonderful library at Hampton Hargate Primary School, where I gave a course recently.
I have this belief that children become readers before they can read. They become hooked on books because they were read aloud to as a child. Jacqueline Wilson
I will defend the importance of bedtime stories to my last gasp. JK Rowling
There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
The desire to read has to be encouraged before the skill can be taught. Tanya Landman
Books give a child a lever with which to prise open the world. Amanda Craig
A book is a device to ignite the imagination. Alan Bennett
A childhood without books – that would be no childhood. That would be like being shut out from the enchanted place where you can go and find the rarest kind of joy. Astrid Lindgren
Without stories, we wouldn’t be human beings at all. Philip Pullman
Reading makes you think, that is what it’s for. Aidan Chambers
I wouldn’t be a songwriter if it wasn’t for the books I read as a kid. Taylor Swift
Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood. John Green
People place so much value on thought, but feeling is as essential. I want to read books that make me laugh and cry and fear and hope and punch the air in triumph. I want a book to hug me or grab me by the scruff of my neck. I don’t even mind if it punches me in the gut. Because we are here to feel. Matt Haig
You’ll never be alone if you’ve got a book. Al Pacino
Read. Read anything… Just read. Neil Gaiman
