This past Sunday at noon I had the incredible pleasure of reading to children and their parents at The Rubber Library on the corner of Piety and Dauphine, in the New Orleans Bywater neighborhood. As I read the kids drew in closer. They’d ask questions every now and then, make silly noises, or wiggle around like kids do, and then I’d show them the beautiful illustrations in To Dream of Dancing. The books I write are a fair bit longer than most picture books put out today, and have a lot more story in them, so I read for about 15 minutes and then asked the kids if they’d like me to stop and continue next time. Two of the little girls looked at me with eyes the size of small moons and said, “Keep reading…” So I did. I read for a little over a half hour, which I used to think was an eternity as a child, and then they wanted me to read the second one, which I politely declined until next time but promised to be back. It’s moments like these that fill my heart, and remind me of how powerful reading to each other and telling stories truly is. My mother read to me as a child, and those are memories that I treasure. Those little girls, and one little boy (I didn’t forget you Mordekai ;), just by wanting to hear more of Desdemona’s Dreams, reminded me how much I love telling stories. Thank you kids. I can’t wait to read to you again. I’m going to be there on September 10th, 2017 at 12pm if you’d like to come and get lost in The Land of Mar with me. That’s where all the lost dreams go…
All the unicorns,
Z.W. Mohr
