Why I Read -by Gary Paulson
Why do I read?
I just can't help myself.
I read to learn and to grow, to laugh and to be motivated.
I read to understand things I've never been exposed to.
I read when I'm crabby, when I've just said monumentally
dumb things to the people I love.
I read for strength to help me when I feel broken, discouraged, and afraid.
I read when I'm angry at the whole world.
I read when everything is going right.
I read to find hope.
I read because I'm made up not just of
skin and bones, of sights, feelings, and a deep need for chocolate,
but I'm also made up of words.
Words describe my thoughts and what's hidden in my heart.
Words are alive--when I've found a story that I love,
I read it again and again, like playing a favorite song over and over.
Reading isn't passive--I enter the story with the characters,
breathe their air, feel their frustrations,
scream at them to stop when they're about to do something stupid,
cry with them, laugh with them.
Reading for me, is spending time with a friend.
A book is a friend.
You can never have too many.
― Gary Paulsen, Shelf Life: Stories by the Book
I just can't help myself.
I read to learn and to grow, to laugh and to be motivated.
I read to understand things I've never been exposed to.
I read when I'm crabby, when I've just said monumentally
dumb things to the people I love.
I read for strength to help me when I feel broken, discouraged, and afraid.
I read when I'm angry at the whole world.
I read when everything is going right.
I read to find hope.
I read because I'm made up not just of
skin and bones, of sights, feelings, and a deep need for chocolate,
but I'm also made up of words.
Words describe my thoughts and what's hidden in my heart.
Words are alive--when I've found a story that I love,
I read it again and again, like playing a favorite song over and over.
Reading isn't passive--I enter the story with the characters,
breathe their air, feel their frustrations,
scream at them to stop when they're about to do something stupid,
cry with them, laugh with them.
Reading for me, is spending time with a friend.
A book is a friend.
You can never have too many.
― Gary Paulsen, Shelf Life: Stories by the Book
About this author
Although he was never a dedicated student, Paulsen developed a passion for reading at an early age. After a librarian gave him a book to read--along with his own library card--he was hooked. He began spending hours alone in the basement of his apartment building, reading one book after another.
Running away from home at the age of 14 and traveling with a carnival, Paulsen acquired a taste for adventure. A youthful summer of rigorous chores on a farm; jobs as an engineer, construction worker, ranch hand, truck driver, and sailor; and two rounds of the 1,180-mile Alaskan dog sled race, the Iditarod; have provided ample material from which he creates his stories.
Paulsen and his wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen, an artist who has illustrated several of his books, divide their time between a home in New Mexico and a boat in the Pacific.