Day 762: Children’s Book Bank

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To say books saved my life would be an understatement.

My earliest memories are of my mom reading to me and my sister at bedtime. She’d act out all the parts and bring the stories to life right there in our tiny shared bedroom.

I inherited her love of reading, and books like Charlotte’s Web, Anne of Green Gables and Freddy the [Pig] Detective, and later Catcher in the Rye and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn got me through some tough times in my preteen and teen years.

These are just a few of the reasons I LOVE the Children’s Book Bank.

Since 2008, the Book Bank has given away more than 1 million donated books, along with literacy support, to children living in low-income neighborhoods across Toronto.

Why not just go to the library, you say?

Because in a perfect world you have books at home and visit the library. The more book places the better, I say.

So this month, A Good Book Drive is going on across Canada, to “bring stories to a new generation of readers.”

In Toronto, the donated books will end up at the Children’s Book Bank. I’ve donated three kids books to the cause.

Two of them are Dr. Seuss books because, well, Dr. Seuss.

It’s fun to scroll through the Book Drive Instagram feed and see some of the well-known Canadians who have donated books … everyone from Astronaut Chris Hadfield to Olympic skater Patrick Chan to Toronto Maple Leaf Zach Hyman, and to learn what their donated books are about and why reading is important to them.

Happy reading!

p.s.

Song of the day. This has nothing to do with books, but I saw The Greatest Showman over the weekend and I loved all the music in it but this song made me cry… in a good way. Enjoy!