In This Digital Age, the Touch of a Page Matters More Than Ever

I am not a Luddite or a technophobe — I live by computers, and find a certain poetry in their logic and power.  But as much as I type and swipe and Tweet, I find myself missing the feel of paper.  

I still buy a book when I know I will read it over and over.  I still write what I want to remember.  No high-resolution flat screen or back-lit marvel will replace that feeling of reading a first sentence, on paper, that makes you pause, at that moment, with that book.

Book fascination goes back to an early age — of a childhood spent using books as props, as bricks to build forts, as tents to hide soldiers, and of course, as magic carpets to spirit me away.  It is no wonder that I cannot stay away from them.  And when I lost dozens of beloved books in the flood of Hurricane Sandy, it felt as though I had lost whole pages from my life.

This is why I never tire of New York’s wonderful book fairs, and I hope my two girls never tire of holding a book in their hand.  A book anchors you to a moment in time the way a song or the lovely scent of something baking just might.  I am privileged to be one of the authors at The Brooklyn Museum Children’s Book Fair — this Saturday, November 15, from 12 to 4 PM.  There, scores of book lovers will mingle and browse through picture books, young adult books, tween books, and among them, the authors and illustrators who brought those books into being.  Come stop by, pick up a book, speak to an author, and don’t forget to visit The Crowded Kingdom table, where I’ll probably be fervently scribbling and planning…to write another book.