“It’s been a while since I have been to the foster and adoptive families event held at Spaulding Academy. Since COVID, really. There was a party-like atmosphere there, filled with bouncy castles, grilled food, someone dressed up as a moose, basketball, an antique car for the grown-ups, and books, of course!

The afternoon was filled with sunshine, food smells and many fun distractions, but a sizable group of people gathered to hear my storytelling presentation for CLiF. They stayed and listened, jumping at the appropriate moments, widening their eyes at others, with plenty of laughter filling the air. 

Once the stories were over, each young person there stepped up to the four large tables exploding with the colors of hundreds of brand new books. Children eagerly picked over them choosing two of their favorites, and talking about the books with their friends. 

Some put the books into bags and went off to do other things at the event, whilst some found a quieter spot to read their books, and others were read to by their foster parents and care providers. I stayed for a while and got a small group of tweens to settle in for a long story, a deep folk tale from Norway. They, too, seemed to enjoy themselves and found books appropriate to read. 

Even though I do this work all year round, there’s always something special, something magical about watching kids pick out books that don’t need to be returned, books that they can write their name in, and, sometimes, begin a collection for the first time for their own library.”