A Velocity of Being: Letters to A Young Reader

A CBC Hot Off The Press Selection of December 2018 A Brain Pickings Best Children's Book of 2018 Featured in Green Source DFW December 2018 gift guide An embarrassment of riches. --The New York Times Impelled to defend the dignity and authority of books, and the transformative power of continuing to read them in the digital age, Maria Popova and Claudia Zoe Bedrick spent eight years collecting the words and artwork for A Velocity of Being (Enchanted Lion, 257 pages, $34.95), a treasury of thoughtful, quirky, heartfelt letters from notable adults to the young reader. ...For adults devoted to raising strong readers amid what Ms. Popova calls the fragment fetishism of the internet--and for book lovers of any age on a Christmas list-- A Velocity of Being has arrived not a moment too soon. --Wall Street Journal This feast of a book provides ample food for thought, with some dazzling visuals, to boot. But like many feasts, this one goes on at length, with flavors and courses that tend to overlap. Still, the collection will nourish readers of all kinds, deserving a permanent place on our bookshelves. --Joan Silverman, The National Book Reveiw The heft of A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader makes it feel grand and immense; momentous on its first page turn yet deeply personal. It's a collection of letters and art for readers young and old from a community of writers, artists and other notable figures who speak about the deep magic of falling headlong into a story, the transformative power of words--stories settling into us, burrowing into our souls, running through our veins and becoming a part of who we are. ... Reading through compelling letter after letter is overwhelming in the best way possible. What are we without words, stories and books? -- Michelle Sterling, Avery and Augustine