What's a Book?

There's nothing like the smell of books.  It sounds funny to say and probably strange to read but it's true.  That freshly-printed ink on crisp clean pages just does something to me. 

I was browsing through the children's section of Barnes and Noble for inspiration; something that would leap out and give me that A-HA moment every writer needs.  I ran my fingers over the spines of familiar childhood favorites like Corduroy, Wacky Wednesday and Owl Moon.  They stood perfectly lined on the shelves waiting to be taken home.

Down the aisle was a mother and son who could have been no more than six.  He grabbed a book with his stubby fingers, turned it upside and shook it as if birthday money was going to fall from the pages.  He plopped to the floor and placed it over his head forming a pirate hat of sorts. 

"No!" his mother reprimanded snatching the book from his head.  "Here.  Go sit on one of the chairs until I'm done."  She reached into her over-sized Mary Poppins purse and pulled out her iPhone. 

The little boy smiled a Cheshire cat smile as he grabbed the phone, hustled over to the chairs and accessed whatever app his little heart desired. 

I shook my head in silence watching it all.  Is this what it will all come to?

It made me think back to when my mom would take my brother and I to the library every week.  I was never an avid reader but I always looked forward to my mother's pre-library talk ("We need to use our inside library voices.") and just browsing through the kids' section of books wrapped in that stiff cellophane.  I ended up leaving with five or six books every time.

The days of libraries and books are coming to an end.  Even my mother who "Can't imagine not holding a book" has caved and gotten a kindle.  I suppose it just makes me sad to think that our children are not experiencing some of the simpler pleasures in life.  And I'm foreseeing the days of not only explaining what a tape or typewriter is but also answering the question, "Mrs. Polin, what's a book?"