“A mouse took a walk through the deep dark wood, a fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked…”
I was late to reading for pleasure – very late. It was not until my early thirties that I picked up anything other than a technical tome to read.
Nowadays I read every day for pleasure and I can’t imagine not having a book “on the go”. I am currently, unusually for me, reading a biography – Captain Scott by Ranulph Fiennes. I am fascinated by the challenges these Edwardians faced, their naivety and the utmost self-confidence.
The book that changed all of this was Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. I simply was captivated by the storyline (those Edwardians again). The drama of the First World War is, in this centenary year, very much part of the zeitgeist. But then the concept of such industrialised killing was shocking.
I recall reading one section late at night, I started reading at just after ten, four hours later I realised my heart was pounding and I was exhausted. It had been me, not Lt Wraysford who had dragged boxed of explosives to the front line.
Words on paper, when wonderfully constructed like this can create pictures in my mind far more striking than any other media; only radio can get close.
Books are to be found in almost every room in our home they are toys for my children (dogs and cats appear from behind flaps as if my magic) but more importantly they are an integral part of our bedtime routine - bath, biscuit, brush teeth, bed and book. There are many texts I now know of by heart (including what happened to that mouse).
Books will always be part of my life, I will create an environment where my children will learn to love words – a small gift from me to them.
Dads joined in the Peterborough Literacy Campaign's Father's Day campaign by sending in a 'reading selfie' with their children for the chance to win book tokens.
Kevin Tighe is the Chief Executive of Vivacity.