D.E.A.R.

It’s time to gather that stack of books, build the blanket fort, and stockpile the snack foods…

Tomorrow is Drop Everything And Read Day!

This special day actually made its debut in a work of fiction. Author Beverly Cleary wrote about D.E.A.R. in her 1982 Newbery Honor book Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Since then, “Drop Everything And Read” programs have become a nonfictional reality all over the globe.

Of course, every day is Drop Everything And Read Day here at The Elbow.

After all…

“I cannot live without books.”

— Thomas Jefferson

“If one reads enough books one has a fighting chance. Or better, one’s chances of survival increase with each book one reads.”

— Sherman Alexie

“I owe everything I am and everything I will ever be to books.”

— Gary Paulsen

And…

“We read to know that we are not alone.”

— C.S. Lewis

I’m certainly never alone when I've got a jumble of books strewn about me... Yes, I've written before about my “ferocious” reading habit.

Here’s my current list of books-in-progress:

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Macbeth by William Shakespeare (the current read-aloud with the family)

The Writing Life by Ellen Gilchrist

Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck

So, what will you be reading tomorrow?

Well, you’d better have something.

After all, some of us side with the Lemony man…

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”

— Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler)

PROMPT:

“Be awesome! Be a book nut!”

— Dr. Seuss

You know what to do.