Each day millions of children arrive in American classrooms in search of more than reading and math skills. They are looking for a light in the darkness of their lives, a Good Samaritan who will stop and bandage a bruised heart or ego.

We have instant pudding, instant photos, instant coffee—but there are no instant adults.

Story is the vehicle we use to make sense of our lives in a world that often defies logic.

You became a reader because you saw and heard someone you admired enjoying the experience, someone led you to the world of books even before you could read, let you taste the magic of stories, took you to the library, and allowed you to stay up later at night to read in bed.

Students who read the most also read the best, achieve the most, and stay in school the longest. Conversely, those who dont read much cannot get better at it.

Readers don't grow in trees. But they are grown-in places where they are fertilized with lots of print, and above all, read to daily.

The more you read, the better you get, the more better you get, the more you like it; and the more you like it, the more you do it.