Readers of the Future

By Susannah Bianchi

PROMPT — The way I see it ...

When I found myself in the children's section of a Barnes & Noble Bookstore, it felt as if I had entered an alternate universe. The store itself, one step from a library in its peacefulness, suddenly turns into a wild party.

Little ones chased by parents and nannies are everywhere all carrying books. Tiny readers not really reading, but learning and feeling how good it is to just hold one.

A girl with curly blonde hair with a pink bow proudly showed me her Good Dog Carl Board Book. "My book," she said, as if I might take it.

Another girl sat near her sucking her thumb clutching Goodnight Moon in her other hand.

A toddler ran by dragging a stuffed Babar.

I watch a father try getting his son interested in Where The Wild Things Are preferring Harold and the Purple Crayon. Another little boy popped over with, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie he wanted to recommend. Though pint-sized, they both were already ardent readers.

Despite the noise was charmed by all the enthusiasm.

The cutest little boy in a Polo hoodie was insisting his nanny buy him a Bluey backpack he stuffed with books that were spilling all over, not taking no for an answer.

"He has so many at home," she said. "He just likes to carry things on his back, you know, like a little Sherpa." Her fondness towards him flourished as she spoke.

"He'll fill it with all kinds of things...crackers to smiley Band-Aids he puts on even when there's no cut. But he loves books best of all." On cue, he grabbed another adding it to his pile.

Then one mother carried her little girl who was having none of it, kicking her heels against her mom's thighs. The mother sighed rolling her eyes. "If I put her down, she'll pull everything off the shelves. Never fails. I'm surprised they even let us back in here."

"Oh so what," I said, "she's just having a good time."

She also held Amelia Bedelia beneath her arm. "I have another one at home," she said, after dropping Amelia I handed back to her.

"Have you ever read this?" handing me a copy of Ben and Me about a mouse who lives in Benjamin Franklin's hat.

I hadn't, but her smile made me want to.

As the noise increased what I was witnessing were little individuals sprouting personalities right before my eyes.

Then, who looked like another dad came in with a rolling cart filling it with books. He was well over 6 feet tall making him appear like Gulliver in khakis and a button-down. He expertly stepped around all the children as if they were rocks while crossing a babbling brook. You knew right away he was a regular.

I looked to see what books he chose: Stuart Little, The Secret Garden, Huckleberry Finn, Little Women, and a stack of Nancy Drew Mysteries.

My own well-read copy of Little Women came to mind in pride of place on my book shelf.

There's also a display of stuffed animals, puppets and dolls as if they've stepped right off the page. A large Harry Potter sits on top like the Master of Ceremonies.

I almost tripped over a girl on the floor surrounded by Madeline and Pete the Cat she was in deep conversation with.

I'm touched by the innocence remembering how I'd too talk to my Cat In The Hat.

It's so important to teach children early how reading will transform their lives much more than a cell phone will. I wish they'd pass a law that you had to be a certain age to use one, same as driving a car.

When I turned to go back towards the New Non-Fiction section in the front of the store, all was quiet making me feel like Alice who had just stepped back through the Looking Glass.

As I stood in line with my own pile of books, felt happy for these children. How lucky they were to have parents and caretakers that know how reading will shape their young lives, with no time to lose.

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Susannah Bianchi has written for The New York Times, More Magazine and Chicken Soup for the Soul. She loves to read so these kids inspired her more than she can say. Susannah writes from New York City.