I was at the Savannah Children’s Book Festival on Saturday. I met teachers who read to their students every day, kids who read out loud to their siblings, families who read books together every night, librarians who read to every class that visits their library. I went to the Reading Dogs tent and met dogs–small dogs, big dogs, old dogs, young dogs—all of them trained to sit and listen to a story read aloud to them by a child.I got to have a conversation with a grandfather who had come to the festival with his granddaughter. The two of them read aloud to each other over the phone. The grandfather buys two copies of the book—one for him, one for his granddaughter, and then they take turns reading to each other. They read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane together this way.The grandfather said to me, “Now, the ending of that book—that is truly miraculous.”It wasn’t until I was on the plane that I realized what I wanted (and needed) to say to this man in return: “No, sir. The miraculous thing is this–the two of you, reading together.”I’ll put those words here in the hope that he will see them.And I’ll put these words here, too: thank you to all of you who believe in the power of story, the miracle of reading together.

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