The Power of Story: THIS IS A STORY

 My experience tells me this is universal truth:  

Gather two or more people together, especially family and friends, then mention a shared event from some time past. The recollection of, relative importance of, details retained, and consequences of that singular experience will vary far more than they will match, but all will center on the experience itself, and the people who shared it.

I say this because I've read several books for adults lately, all highly recommended by friends and family, all praised as powerful and important. I've read each with intensity and appreciation, and found that each centered its theme on the power of STORY. In each case, too, the stories within stories inspired, informed, and connected with the characters portrayed in different but significant ways. 

That's what stories do.

CANDLEWICK PRESS, 2022

Incidentally, the book I finished reading last night centered librarians as the flinders and facilitators of story, of information, of content that had been forbidden (banned, censored, legislated against) as a form of resistance and as sustainers of community.

THIS IS A STORY is written by librarian and book-lover JOHN SCHU, illustrated by LAUREN CASTILLO, and dedicated to several remarkable books-for-youth creators and the librarians who serve young people everywhere. 

In a series of simple, progressive statements, Schu leads readers from the simple recognition of words, to words on a page, to books, to topics, to the infinite portal of connections, a library. With equally progressive illustrations, Castillo presents appealingly familiar folks of diverse backgrounds and interests, each of whom explores, connects, and embraces particular books. Many of the titles used in illustrations reveal the covers and spines of beloved and award-winning favorites among the many books for kids published in recent decades. Even so, the topics and stories within those chosen distinctly call to individual readers,  readers who will warmly recommend those that touch their minds and hearts.

My guess is that those who take the invitation to try someone else's recommendations will respond differently, even if equally enthused.  "Story", whether in lived experience, oral narration, or within the pages of a book, is only one wing of a unique bird. The other, the wing needed to bring a story to life, to lift it into the heart and atmosphere and beyond, is the life-story of the reader/audience. When the author's words connect with the heart of the reader, the story flies. 

Whether reading for ourselves as adults, reading aloud to someone else (and ADULTS enjoy being read to, right?), or as young folks just discovering their own power to transform print into life, the process depends on STORY, on the meaningful connection of ideas within that form. Something has to matter. And that happens in well-written narrative nonfiction as well as in fiction.

Stories matter. Share this one. Share your own. Seek out the stories of others. 

Fly.