To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark - Victor Hugo

I am a fervent reader.

I love books.

I love to buy books. I love to own them.

I buy more books than I read.

Maybe this comes from a childhood frustration? We were not poor, but spending money on books was seldom done. We lived in a small village in the country and there was no library close enough to get to. But we had what I call a wonderful invention: a library bus full of books would stop in our village every two weeks and I made sure never to miss it. It made me discover books that I would never have read otherwise. For free.

I remember the joy I felt when hearing the honking music announcing the arrival of the bus. Entering it was like penetrating into a secret, wonderful world full of stories. For me, the magic of books dates back to that time and has only amplified today.

The library bus still exists and tours the little villages to bring books to the reading community with half of its books for children and young adults.

I went there today with our 2 year old. He knows what a bus is, but he couldn't seem to grasp why a bus should contain books instead of people. He was more interested in the other kids than in the books but once at home 'bookbus' had become a new word in his evergrowing vocabulary and I hope to have planted the magic bookseed in him too.