Library Mondays-The power of stories

I have been wanting to start this series for a while and I am happy to finally kick it off. It all started with me starting volunteering at the school library last September. Every Monday I go in, I help arranging the books in the shelves, put away the ones that have been checked in by the kids and very often check out new books for my own children. It actually became a small ritual. Every Monday I bring new books in that I would read to them, or , in the case of my eldest they will read by themselves. Before starting it I couldn’t ever imagine how much joy this new habit would bring to our week evenings. The children check out books by themselves regularly on library days but the fact that I pick some especially for them makes it somehow special in their eyes, plus let’s face it there is just so many lizard and crystal books and Captain Underpants (not that I am questioning my boys choices)  we can have around. Sometimes it’s good to read a great old fashion ‘story’. Which brings me to the initial idea and title of the post. Stories have power, the power to transform us, word by word, picture by picture. I am truly smitten with the kids school library.  I can’t help to be reminded of my own library as a child which consisted of a wooden cabinet with a few books inside. Yet that cabinet was like magic for me and I still remember some of the books I borrowed from it.

So in the past few months I brought home books about families, pets, kids human rights, a letter of President Obama to her daughters, the biography of Jane Goodall and Albert Einstein, just to name a few. I found myself laughing and crying while reading stories to them and every single time I have been reminded of how magical words are, how inspiring a story that comes from the heart can be. And even if they don’t show it, they are touched by them. I know it because when the morning after I check their beds I often find those same books lying next to their pillow, to accompany their nights.

The book I am sharing this week is called the “North Star”. It’s a book about a journey, a journey we all are on, a journey that is special and unique to all of us. Have you ever felt like you’ve been ‘left behind’ in life? Like you missed an opportunity or you arrived too late? I know I did, several times in the course of my life. This book, written and illustrated for little ones, is a beautiful reminder for grown ups as well that there is no such thing about being left behind, that our journey is our own to make, there is no being fast or being slow. We are on it and we have to trust that it is our own  itinerary that makes this very journey a special one. Treat your journey like your own and trust that at the right time, you will get where you are meant to be going.

And, if you have little ones at home, don’t forget to read to them. Life is hectic and busy, I know, but the gift of a story can enhance their days in ways that we don’t even imagine.Make time for stories.

“The North Star”  by Peter H. Raynolds

If you are looking for somebody to be telling your own personal and unique story through photographs, get in touch, I would be happy to meet you!