My second visit at BJM was as delightful as my first. Though this time, it was very different, as I spent most of the time reading with a lively and intuitive little girl who wore cat ears on top of her red hair. Well, actually it was a headband with cat ears on it and I was very silly for asking her such a question, at least that’s what she told me. As an English major, it’s almost a given that I love to read. And despite my affinity for classic literature, I have always found the category of children’s books as a favorite. Anyhow, I was very excited to sit down and read with her, so when she patted the seat next to her and gave me a big, toothy smile, my heart melted and I knew that my afternoon was going to be one for the books. She introduced herself, rather politely, and then informed me that the book that she was reading was about fables surrounding a mischievous rabbit. I responded enthusiastically, letting her know that I adored stories with rabbits, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and the Tales of Bre’er Rabbit being a few childhood favorites. “Oh, I love rabbits too! They’re very smart! Will you read this with me?” she smiled pleadingly.

We planned to read a page each, but then decided that it would better help the flow of the book if we read whole chapters individually, alternating turns. She was an excellent reader, minding punctuation and using different voices for characters. She would stop occasionally to give me small clarifications, one which included that she read a little funny because she had just lost her two middle bottom teeth, showing them to me proudly. When it was my turn to read, she huddled a little closer and leaned towards the pages. She seemed to really like my reading as she would giggle uncontrollably at certain moments and stopped me several times to ask if we could read together again. But she was also quite frank and attentive, correcting me if I used the wrong punctuation or missed a character’s specific exclamation. She was exceptionally bright and animated. I truly believe that our faces were both beaming as we read to each other. When her step father came to pick her up early, he lingered politely nearby, waiting for us to conclude our fun. She continued to read with ease, occasionally pausing and assuring him that we would be done soon. He would only smile and nod, clearly knowing that we would be reading a while longer. We had just finished reading about how rabbit had accidentally tricked fox, wolf, and bear into chasing him, which made us both laugh heartily, and were discussing how the book’s illustration of the end would have been better with a different scene when it was officially time for her to go.

When she had returned from putting the book away, she looked up at me, and like a little adult, grinned and said, “We’ll finish it next time, alright? Goodbye!” I really cannot wait until next time. She reminded me of two things that are not only generally very important, but are very dear to my heart and to my future aspirations: the grand level of significance that books have in the lives of children and just how crucial it is to sit with a child and read to them as well as have them read to you.