behold the golden tower.
whoever enters
shall do so
at the
risk and joy
of
gaining
something
they may
never
have imagined.
she’s a big girl of 5 now
and wants
so desperately
to read chapter books
all by herself
with lots and lots of pages
no pictures
no help
flipping through the pages
looking for familiar letters
seeking any word she’s seen before
putting her bookmark in
taking it out again
opening it
closing it
showing us how thick it is
doing all the things that readers do
so self-assured
‘i can read them all.’
and then
her moment of truth and grace arrives
as she says
‘isn’t it funny, there isn’t one interesting word in here?’
—
there are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world.
love of books is the best of all.
– jackie kennedy
“i understand what you’re saying, and your comments are valuable, but I’m gonna ignore your advice.”
― roald dahl – fantastic mr. fox

Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and fighter pilot.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, Dahl served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence officer, rising to the rank of acting wing commander. He rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults and became one of the world’s best-selling authors. He has been referred to as “one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century”. Among his awards for contribution to literature, he received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1983, and Children’s Author of the Year from the British Book Awards in 1990. In 2008 The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945.”
—
“a little magic can take you a long way.”
― roald dahl
—
credits: roalddahl.com, npr.com, fantastic mr. fox, charlie and the chocolate factory
the word dates back to the very beginning of modern japan,
the meiji era (1868-1912), and has its origins in a pun.
tsundoku, which literally means reading pile, is written in japanese as 積ん読
tsunde oku means to let something pile up and is written 積んでおく
around the turn of the century they swapped out the
oku (おく) for doku (読) – meaning to read.
because tsunde doku was hard to say,
the word was combined to form tsundoku.
—
this is the perfect word to describe certain places in my cottage
—
—
credits: dan colman, mental floss, reddit image
bought this at the old bookshop
drawn to the cover
mom is swooning
new dad’s happy to have found mom
but looking worried
what?
she had four kids?!
where is the fourth one?
is it a baby?
what happened to the first dad?
the kids are going on the honeymoon?
what will happen?
how will they all blend together?
who will wear hats?
can’t wait to see.
—
“we’re all a little weird, and life’s a little weird. and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”
– dr. seuss
late morning
on the tiny deck
behind my tiny cottage
surrounded by a tiny garden
sharing this tiny space
with a
delicate spider
perched upon
champagne dreams roses
petals flying
orange cat
stretched out
on
weathered deck
under a cloudy sky
sipping
warm coffee
with
coconut cream
reading
listening
taking it all in
happy to share this space
all of us knowing
life is good.
—-
exclusiveness in a garden is a mistake as great as it is in society.
– alfred austin