How Can I Know if
a Book Is
By Michelle Miller Living?
ABOVE: Red Legs by Alice Goudey (New York: Scribner’s, 1966)
It cherishes you; that’s how. Enough said. Article done . . . Really, that’s all we need to know! But a terrible thought assails my
mind . . . What if you have never been
cherished by a book? What if you have
never felt a living book’s respect for your
position as the son or daughter of the
Lord God, High King?
Believe it or not, just typing those
words makes me cry. I grieve, grieve,
grieve, grieve, grieve that most modern
children have never felt honor from a real
book,;a;worthy;book!;Back;in;my;day;(I
am;51,;going;on;206),;virtually;all;youth
I grieve, grieve, grieve,
grieve, grieve that most
modern children have
never felt honor from a
real book, a worthy book!
books were living. You could literally feel
it. The paper itself was luxurious, creamy,
and supple.
1 The illustrations were lov-
ingly hand-drawn or painted by superb
talents. The fonts were dignified. The
generous;“white;space”;surrounding;the
text on each page gave the eye a lovely
rest and admiringly framed the words
themselves. Even the breathing room be-
tween the lines, in books for young read-
ers, was charitable. When you picked up
the book—always done with a respect
mutual to that received from the book—
there was a pleasing heft, for everyone
from the publisher to the culture at large
to the parent to the child who would take
the;book;to;bed;(for;secret;reading;un-
der;the;sheets;by;flashlight);cared;about
this precious gift of civilization. The most
significant quality, though, was its way of
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