Books have always played a huge part in my life. From those read aloud to me before I could read for myself, to the classics of childhood, the challenging books of young adulthood, to the stories I read my own children. But one in particular holds a special place.
It was given to me by my daughter. And it was made by her as a project in one of her college art classes. One weekend she came home and went through all the photos of her brother and her as young children, then she ransacked the box of children’s picture books that I had saved. And took them all back to school.
That Christmas, she presented me with a book that was the culmination of that project. A page from each of their favorite stories, with herself and her brother inserted into the illustration. You can’t tell that they weren’t original with the books. They dig in the sand with Foghorn, play with Riptide at the beach, swing from the trees with the Wild Things, are lost in the spaghetti in Strega Nona and get lost with Waldo. It ends with them asleep with Grandfather Twilight.
It’s special beyond a mother’s appreciation, because it reminds me that stories have the power to beckon you in and surround you until you are living the story as you read.
Shelley
Shelley Freydont is the author of the Lindy Haggerty Mysteries series and the Katie McDonald Sudoku mysteries. Shelley also writes popular romance novels under the name Gemma Bruceis. She is a past president of the New York/Tri State chapter of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, New Jersey Romance Writers and Kiss of Death RWA chapter. A former professional dancer and choreographer, she recently worked on the films Mona Lisa Smile and The Game Plan.