Crystal Star

 

“I had a fantastic time meeting readers of all ages last week at the Barnes and Noble in Maple Grove, Minnesota. One of my favorite moments was when an eight-year-old boy stood in front of me and shouted: ‘He will defend the defenseless!  He will protect the weak!  He will write a poem!’

‘Ha,’ I said.  ‘That’s funny. What’s it from?’

‘Your book!’ he said, ‘The one about the squirrel!  Don’t you remember?’

‘Oh,’ I said.  ‘Yes, I do.  But it was a long time ago.  And may I say?  The words sound better when you say them.’

‘He shouts them,’ said his mother.  ‘All the time.  His teacher read the book aloud in class and then he made me buy him the book and here we are.’

‘Thank you,’ I said to the boy and his mom.  ‘Tell that teacher thank you, too.’

Thank you to all of you, everywhere, who believe that words matter.” – Kate DiCamillo, author of Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures