When I visit schools, the students always ask me what I love to do. Here is what I tell them. I love writing stories. Playing with my naughty puppy Duffy. Eating M&Ms. And reading. In fact, eating M&Ms while reading is the best treat of all. Why reading? Because when you open a book, you open a door to another world. And when you begin reading, you are in that exciting new world.

In real life, you can’t walk with dinosaurs. Or fly to the Sun. Or grow a beanstalk that touches the sky. But you can do all those things in books. Recently in books, I’ve been in Sherwood Forest with Robin Hood. I’ve traveled to New York City in 1776 and met George Washington (I really liked him). I’ve also trekked through jungles and seen huge spiders that can catch birds (but I didn’t stay there long).

Books not only take you places, they can show you how to make things, create things – rockets and tree forts, triple layer chocolate cakes and paper snowflakes to paste on your windows in December. And that’s just for starters. Think of anything you want to know, and you’ll find the answer in a book.

I hope you’ll step – or step again – though the door of Reading.

Try it. It is so much fun.