Commentary A child’s imagination is a powerful thing. Childlike innocence and wonder can transform mundane scenes into extraordinary events. This is what it means to see things through the eyes of a child. No one understood this better than Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. His first children’s book, “And to Think That…
Garbage Collectors Rescue Discarded Books From the Trash, Create Library for the Public
Turkish garbage collectors have decided to salvage what was deemed trash by their clientele as treasure for the public, instead. Repurposing an old brick factory, bookshelves were set up inside and stacked full with discarded books, which had been destined for the incinerator before being collected from the trash. The library operates in the Çankaya…
The Art of Cheese-Hunting
Just the title alone: “A Field Guide to Cheese.” I love it! This new book brings a wealth of information for cheese lovers and the cheese curious. The volume fits nicely up on the bookshelf next to my field guides for birds, trees, and other wonders of nature, and likewise offers compelling inspiration to go…
There’s More Than One Way to Burn a Book
“There is more than one way to burn a book,” Ray Bradbury once said. “And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.” Bradbury wrote the novel “Fahrenheit 451” about a world that systematically burned books. In late December, I resolved to try to read more books than those I review for…
BLM Activist Fired From Library After Allegedly Burning Library Books by Conservative Authors
A Black Lives Matter activist has lost his job at a Tennessee library after allegedly burning books by conservative authors. Cameron Williams, known by his rapper name “C-Grimey,” was placed on paid administrative leave by the Chattanooga Public Library in December 2020 because of an Instagram video of him apparently burning copies of “How to…
The Journey to Understand Love Can Begin Young
“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey,” wrote American educator and businessman Stephen Covey. There cannot be a more important lesson to teach our children. First, of course, children need to understand the power of love. One of Aesop’s Fables makes this very point: The…
Millions of Aussie Adults Have Poor Literacy
A federal parliamentary inquiry has been launched in a bid to address the intergenerational cycle of poor adult literacy in Australia. Imagine being unable to read a book to your children, fill out important forms or decipher ingredient labels on food or medicine. That’s an unacceptable reality for a shocking amount of Australian adults, literacy…
Religious Books Seized and Burned in Communist China, Believers Given Jail Terms
Years ago, the horrors of the holocaust paved the way for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; however, our basic right to freedom of religion or belief is still being trampled in societies ruled by totalitarian regimes. In communist China, practicing a certain faith, printing, or even reading religious books could result in prison terms…
A Return to Books and Reading
Years ago, I owned a bookstore in Waynesville, North Carolina, where we sold used and new books, and a healthy collection of children’s literature. One summer afternoon, a woman accompanied by two adolescent grandchildren entered the store. While the kids browsed the shelves, the grandmother and I visited at the checkout desk. At one point…
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