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A Velocity of Being: Letters to A Young Reader
In these pages, some of today’s most wonderful culture-makers—writers, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and philosophers—reflect on the joys of reading, how books broaden and deepen human experience, and the ways in which the written word has formed their own character. On the page facingeach letter, an illustrationby a celebrated illustrator or graphic artist presents that artist's visual response.
Among the diverse contributions are letters from Jane Goodall, Neil Gaiman, Jerome Bruner, Shonda Rhimes, Ursula K. Le Guin, Yo-Yo Ma, Judy Blume, Lena Dunham, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Jacqueline Woodson, as well as a ninety-eight-year-old Holocaust survivor, a pioneering oceanographer, and Italy’s first woman in space. Some of the illustrators, cartoonists, and graphic designers involved are Marianne Dubuc, Sean Qualls, Oliver Jeffers, Maira Kalman, Mo Willems, Isabelle Arsenault, Chris Ware, Liniers, Shaun Tan, Tomi Ungerer, and Art Spiegelman.
This project is woven entirely of goodwill, generosity of spirit, and a shared love of books. Everyone involved has donated their time, and all profits willgo to the New York Public Library systems.
Preface by David Remnick, editor, The New Yorker; Edited and introduced by Maria Popova, who has been writing since 2006 about what she reads on Brain Pickings (brainpickings.org), which is now included in the Library of Congress archive of culturally valuable materials; Edited by Claudia Bedrick, publisher, editorial andart director of Enchanted Lion Books.
Among the diverse contributions are letters from Jane Goodall, Neil Gaiman, Jerome Bruner, Shonda Rhimes, Ursula K. Le Guin, Yo-Yo Ma, Judy Blume, Lena Dunham, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Jacqueline Woodson, as well as a ninety-eight-year-old Holocaust survivor, a pioneering oceanographer, and Italy’s first woman in space. Some of the illustrators, cartoonists, and graphic designers involved are Marianne Dubuc, Sean Qualls, Oliver Jeffers, Maira Kalman, Mo Willems, Isabelle Arsenault, Chris Ware, Liniers, Shaun Tan, Tomi Ungerer, and Art Spiegelman.
This project is woven entirely of goodwill, generosity of spirit, and a shared love of books. Everyone involved has donated their time, and all profits willgo to the New York Public Library systems.
Preface by David Remnick, editor, The New Yorker; Edited and introduced by Maria Popova, who has been writing since 2006 about what she reads on Brain Pickings (brainpickings.org), which is now included in the Library of Congress archive of culturally valuable materials; Edited by Claudia Bedrick, publisher, editorial andart director of Enchanted Lion Books.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published December 14, 2018
211 people are currently reading
6,380 people want to read
About the author
Maria Popova
32books1,673followersMaria Popova is a reader and a writer, and writes about what she reads on Brain Pickings (brainpickings.org), which is included in the Library of Congress permanent digital archive of culturally valuable materials. She hosts The Universe in Verse—an annual charitable celebration of science through poetry—at the interdisciplinary cultural center Pioneer Works in Brooklyn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 318 reviews
October 15, 2022
Above is Maria Popova’s Brainpickings piece about her and Claudia Bedrick’s book about the joys and importance of reading, A Velocity of Being: Letters to Young Readers, a beautiful and huge, 280-page hardcover brick of a book compiled over eight years or more through their asking dozens of leading people in the public sphere—many of them not surprisingly writers—about the way reading had been central in the shaping of their lives (no one said it hadn’t been important, of course; I assume any such letters were respectfully not included. I was imagining some of the letters from some of my high school students many years ago as a counter-argument).
.
Some letters I liked came from Jane Goodall, Neil Gaiman, (educational psychologist) Jerome Bruner, Ursula K. Le Guin, Yo-Yo Ma, Judy Blume. I liked most of them, don’t get me wrong, but after a time I wondered about the audience for such a book. Pro-reading types, of course: Librarians, English/language arts teachers, ŷ readers!! as well as the target audience stated in the title, young readers, but if they already like to read they would mostly rather read a book than talk about why books are so great. And the kids (or adults) who hate reading, well, this book ain’t gonna talk ‘em into it. But many of the statements are lovely, what any of us might have said, though why have a book what we said, we want to know what successful said about how reading help shape them and become world-renowned. It’s a kind of well-written confirmation of most readers� generally held views, some of them a bit short and obvious.
But this is one gorgeous artifact, a coffee-table book every school and library oughtta have on display. I’ll tell you why I would personally want it, though. Popova also knows thousands of terrific illustrators, and she gets some of the best I know, a one page illustration per letter: Isabelle Arsenault, Chris Ware, Oliver Jeffers, Maira Kalman, Shaun Tan, Art Spiegelman. Almost every page is gorgeous, just stunning, like visual poems about reading. That’s the primary reason why this book gets five stars from me.
I loved Chris Ware’s two page illustrated story, one of my faves.
I liked this story: Author Elizabeth Gilbert skipped school to stay home and read Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. She got caught lying and was grounded. Yet she never forgot that day or that book. (How many days would I have preferred to stay home from school and just read a book all the way through!? Many of them!)
Holocaust survivor Helen Fagin once lived in a Polish ghetto where reading was punishable by hard labor, even death (like slaves in this country!), but she risked her life running a secret school for kids, though it couldn’t be about facts, she soon realized:
“What they needed wasn’t dry information but hope, the kind that comes from being transported into a dream-world of possibility. There are times when dreams sustain us more than facts.�
Though I generally liked school, that’s why I would have wanted to stay home from time to time, as learning in school was often configured as an accumulation of facts and skills rather than passionate engagement with the world through the imagination. You and I already know this, but it is nice to see it confirmed here again and again in this book.
May 30, 2024
Everyone, at any stage of their reading journey, needs to read this book!
I started marking pages with particular letters that I wanted to remember and share with friends, but too quickly I ran out of post-it notes!
This is a book of letters and amazing illustrations about reading from writers, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and philosophers.
As an example, Naomi Wolf started her letter �
“Dear Person, Why Read? Because you only have one life but reading gives you many lives.�
Or Amanda Peters, -
"Dear Person-Who-Is-Afraid-Of-Books, Don’t forget: You don’t have to finish every book you start!�
How many times did I feel I needed to � well, as a Book Discussion group facilitator � probably, always! How many times would I have preferred not to continue on?! Those who have read along side of me, most likely already have that answer�
This book is a 250-page love letter to the kid we used to be, written and illustrated by people whose character has been shaped by a life of reading. It is worth taking a break from your regular fiction reads.
I started marking pages with particular letters that I wanted to remember and share with friends, but too quickly I ran out of post-it notes!
This is a book of letters and amazing illustrations about reading from writers, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and philosophers.
As an example, Naomi Wolf started her letter �
“Dear Person, Why Read? Because you only have one life but reading gives you many lives.�
Or Amanda Peters, -
"Dear Person-Who-Is-Afraid-Of-Books, Don’t forget: You don’t have to finish every book you start!�
How many times did I feel I needed to � well, as a Book Discussion group facilitator � probably, always! How many times would I have preferred not to continue on?! Those who have read along side of me, most likely already have that answer�
This book is a 250-page love letter to the kid we used to be, written and illustrated by people whose character has been shaped by a life of reading. It is worth taking a break from your regular fiction reads.
February 27, 2017
While I was only able to read excerpts from this book, what I did read (and the illustrations that complement the text) completely blew me away. We are living in a time in which learning, understanding, and empathy are urgently needed “to keep our very humanity alive.� Books open doors, provide refuge, create connections, and reflect acceptance. Odes to books and reading are myriad and can often become monotonous and hollow, but each excerpt I read in this collection sings with unique truth and calls readers, even those who are immersed in their love for books, to discover that love anew. A VELOCITY OF BEING is a clarion call to the brave, hopeful, transcendent world of reading.
December 5, 2018
Everyone, at any stage of their reading journey, needs to read this book! I started marking pages with particular letters that I wanted to remember and share with friends, family and students, but too quickly I ran out of post it notes. This is a book I will continue coming back to for affirmations and inspiration. The beautiful and fascinating artwork complements each letter perfectly. This book reminds me that I am very fortunate to be a school librarian.
October 18, 2022
Read 2020, edited Oct 2022: images added etc.
Yet another one I learned about from Dave Schaasma. Thanks, Dave! I came across his review again today and figured I'd dust off my own review and add images.
------
--Shaun Tan's artwork for A Velocity of Being: Letters To A Young Reader.
This book is a collection of one-page letters about the joy of reading, written by authors, scientists, musicians, artists, architects ... each with an accompanying illustration on the adjacent page. (A few are two-page pieces by the illustrator, what you might call graphic letters.) Some of the contributors are well known, such as Roz Chast, Art Spiegelman, Judy Blume, Shaun Tan, Chris Ware, Yo Yo Ma, Anne Lamott, Ursula Leguinn, among others. But most are names new to me. Keeping in mind that I’m not part of the young reader target audience, the letters in this book were, on the whole, considerably less interesting to me than the illustrations, many of which are astoundingly beautiful. The letters tend to repeat themselves, more often than not a riff on the magic of reading, on its ability to transport the reader to other lands and times and to live vicariously the experiences of characters, whether fictional or non-fictional. To be fair, this to be expected, because it seems a natural response to the editor’s call.
The letters that most resonated with me, though, took a different tack, such as the letter by Holocaust survivor Helen Fagin, describing how she hid, and read by night, books banned by the Nazis. Likewise moving was the cancer piece by Laurel Braitman. As one who’s been there, with my own father, I was reminded of the skeletal body, the horror of radiation burns: “His body, eventually covered neck-to-knee in scars, looked like a map of the world.� Other favorites were the creative rebus letter by Art Spiegelman-- a reminder here that a rebus uses pictures to represent things that sound similar, eg., a picture of a deer for “Dear�, a picture of an eye for “I�, and so forth. Also really liked the two-pager by Chris Ware, on the connection between two readers of the same book though separated by distance and seventy years� time. Krista Tippett’s letter was another standout, illuminating the connection between writer and reader, with lines such as: “To read is to take a stranger’s hand and plunge into experiences you want and don’t want, learning all the while to navigate the unexpected places real life will take you. To read is to experience the most humanizing of surprises: that someone else’s far away mind has given rise to words with their own distinct voice and color and sound, and yet their words touch and echo and mirror places deep inside you.�
--art by Olivier Tollec
But the real stars of this collection for me are the illustrations. Most of the artists were new to me, and having found some of their books in my library system, I’ll be able to explore their works. Some of the standout illustrations were those by: Oyvind Torseter (p46), Cindy Derby (48), Catarina Sobral (100), Cecilia Ruiz (106), Nahid Kazemi (108), Jeni Desmond (110), Miguel Pang Ly (208), Elize Hurst (224), Grant Snider (226), Shaun Tan (236), among others.
I thank this book for introducing me to them.
Beatrice Alemagna
More samples, from Maria's blog:
Yet another one I learned about from Dave Schaasma. Thanks, Dave! I came across his review again today and figured I'd dust off my own review and add images.
------
--Shaun Tan's artwork for A Velocity of Being: Letters To A Young Reader.
This book is a collection of one-page letters about the joy of reading, written by authors, scientists, musicians, artists, architects ... each with an accompanying illustration on the adjacent page. (A few are two-page pieces by the illustrator, what you might call graphic letters.) Some of the contributors are well known, such as Roz Chast, Art Spiegelman, Judy Blume, Shaun Tan, Chris Ware, Yo Yo Ma, Anne Lamott, Ursula Leguinn, among others. But most are names new to me. Keeping in mind that I’m not part of the young reader target audience, the letters in this book were, on the whole, considerably less interesting to me than the illustrations, many of which are astoundingly beautiful. The letters tend to repeat themselves, more often than not a riff on the magic of reading, on its ability to transport the reader to other lands and times and to live vicariously the experiences of characters, whether fictional or non-fictional. To be fair, this to be expected, because it seems a natural response to the editor’s call.
The letters that most resonated with me, though, took a different tack, such as the letter by Holocaust survivor Helen Fagin, describing how she hid, and read by night, books banned by the Nazis. Likewise moving was the cancer piece by Laurel Braitman. As one who’s been there, with my own father, I was reminded of the skeletal body, the horror of radiation burns: “His body, eventually covered neck-to-knee in scars, looked like a map of the world.� Other favorites were the creative rebus letter by Art Spiegelman-- a reminder here that a rebus uses pictures to represent things that sound similar, eg., a picture of a deer for “Dear�, a picture of an eye for “I�, and so forth. Also really liked the two-pager by Chris Ware, on the connection between two readers of the same book though separated by distance and seventy years� time. Krista Tippett’s letter was another standout, illuminating the connection between writer and reader, with lines such as: “To read is to take a stranger’s hand and plunge into experiences you want and don’t want, learning all the while to navigate the unexpected places real life will take you. To read is to experience the most humanizing of surprises: that someone else’s far away mind has given rise to words with their own distinct voice and color and sound, and yet their words touch and echo and mirror places deep inside you.�
--art by Olivier Tollec
But the real stars of this collection for me are the illustrations. Most of the artists were new to me, and having found some of their books in my library system, I’ll be able to explore their works. Some of the standout illustrations were those by: Oyvind Torseter (p46), Cindy Derby (48), Catarina Sobral (100), Cecilia Ruiz (106), Nahid Kazemi (108), Jeni Desmond (110), Miguel Pang Ly (208), Elize Hurst (224), Grant Snider (226), Shaun Tan (236), among others.
I thank this book for introducing me to them.
Beatrice Alemagna
More samples, from Maria's blog:
August 29, 2019
I am a reader, and have been one for as long as I can remember. I made it my mission to "turn" my nieces and nephews into readers, as none of them had parents who read. Mission accomplished.
The reason I share this is so you'll know that I'm unable to be even the slightest bit objective about this book. I love it, and if money was no object would gift one to every home and classroom and library on the planet. It's a collection of letters that adults - some I knew and some I hadn't heard off - all accomplished in their fields - write to young readers sharing their love of reading and books. Yes, yes and yes. I cosign. And if that wasn't enough, each letter is accompanied by wonderful artwork.
Now, I do realize that I'm in a certain echo chamber, and if like me you already love reading you'll find this one delightful too. Will it change the minds of non-readers? I don't know, but it wouldn't hurt to try. I dipped in and out over the course of a week, and it's been a long time since a book has made me this happy.
The reason I share this is so you'll know that I'm unable to be even the slightest bit objective about this book. I love it, and if money was no object would gift one to every home and classroom and library on the planet. It's a collection of letters that adults - some I knew and some I hadn't heard off - all accomplished in their fields - write to young readers sharing their love of reading and books. Yes, yes and yes. I cosign. And if that wasn't enough, each letter is accompanied by wonderful artwork.
Now, I do realize that I'm in a certain echo chamber, and if like me you already love reading you'll find this one delightful too. Will it change the minds of non-readers? I don't know, but it wouldn't hurt to try. I dipped in and out over the course of a week, and it's been a long time since a book has made me this happy.
January 26, 2019
Oh, I wish i had this book when i was a kid.
When we are kids, is easy to believe that dreams come true, is easy to daydream because we don't know better, so rules and expectations do not apply to us. The only thing we need is our imagination and everything is possible.
But at some point we stop being kids.
"A Velocity of Being: Letters to A Young Reader" is a 250 page love letter to the kid we used to be, written and illustrated by people whose character has been shaped by a life of reading.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
P.S: All the proceeds from this book will be donated to the New York public library system.
When we are kids, is easy to believe that dreams come true, is easy to daydream because we don't know better, so rules and expectations do not apply to us. The only thing we need is our imagination and everything is possible.
But at some point we stop being kids.
"A Velocity of Being: Letters to A Young Reader" is a 250 page love letter to the kid we used to be, written and illustrated by people whose character has been shaped by a life of reading.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
P.S: All the proceeds from this book will be donated to the New York public library system.
May 17, 2020
A wonderful, heartwarming collection of (love) letters & illustrations that presents reading in all its glory. The book itself is made with love and great attention to detail. (Don't miss the final note about 'endpaper'.)
A must for every bookworm at heart.
A must for every bookworm at heart.
February 4, 2019
Reading broadens the mind, heightens the senses, and enlivens the spirit. It gives us hope, drive and inspiration. Make it a habit, give it unrestricted access to your imagination, and you will be presented with opportunities and possibilities beyond your wildest dreams�
And when you get the opportunity to travel, take a book with you. Books can be wonderful teachers, saviors during wait times, and companions on the road. Plus, they often hold memories of where you have been, recalling experiences and emotions of times spent exploring.
Richard Branson
When my dad realized that he wouldn’t live long enough to show me the actual world, he got busy giving it to me in books � books he wanted me to read then and books he wanted me to read in the future. There were books about Mexico and Alaska, natural history books, books by Annie Dillard, Wallace Stegner, Luise Erdrich, books on fishing and others on knots, even books about other books. Books were talismans my dad hoped would protect me when he couldn’t do it himself anymore.
I still keep one of his favorites, The year of the whale, on a shelf above my desk. It’s a story about a mother sperm whale and her calf and how they survived the long, dangerous journey from Hawaii to the Arctic, navigating by the stars.
Laurel Braitman
Want to learn to fly? Find a good book, stay focused on it for a while, and soon enough your mind and heart will take wing.
Parker Palmer
As an adult, I’ve come to realize that life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself. Books are clay for exactly that.
Tim Ferris
When you love the same books as someone else, it’s like sharing a secret without saying a word.
Maud Newton
Hard and overwhelming though it may be, given all the options for what to do with your time, try to make reading a priority. Literature will thrill you, nurture your imagination, and solace you through hard times. It is an essential form of befriending yourself for life.
Natascha McElhone
Cherish your curiosity. It is your questions that will shape you. And books, the kind you love, will continuously provoke your mind and heart to grow with a deeper sense of understanding of yourself and how we all fit into this crazy, incredible world.
David Delgado
That’s why books were invented: so our souls could talk to each other. Books help our inside selves meet up and become friends, so we can find our way together through life. That’s why we love them so much.
William Powers
After that, one by one, I took them in. Absorbed their words. Pressed their pages. Called them by name. More years and many pages later, I love books. I love books the way I love my dog, my bicycle, and ice cream. Book by book, starting with one, I’ve known love that can only endure between a human and a text. And between you and me, I have never since passed a lonely book on a stoop.
Liz Danzico
And when you get the opportunity to travel, take a book with you. Books can be wonderful teachers, saviors during wait times, and companions on the road. Plus, they often hold memories of where you have been, recalling experiences and emotions of times spent exploring.
Richard Branson
When my dad realized that he wouldn’t live long enough to show me the actual world, he got busy giving it to me in books � books he wanted me to read then and books he wanted me to read in the future. There were books about Mexico and Alaska, natural history books, books by Annie Dillard, Wallace Stegner, Luise Erdrich, books on fishing and others on knots, even books about other books. Books were talismans my dad hoped would protect me when he couldn’t do it himself anymore.
I still keep one of his favorites, The year of the whale, on a shelf above my desk. It’s a story about a mother sperm whale and her calf and how they survived the long, dangerous journey from Hawaii to the Arctic, navigating by the stars.
Laurel Braitman
Want to learn to fly? Find a good book, stay focused on it for a while, and soon enough your mind and heart will take wing.
Parker Palmer
As an adult, I’ve come to realize that life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself. Books are clay for exactly that.
Tim Ferris
When you love the same books as someone else, it’s like sharing a secret without saying a word.
Maud Newton
Hard and overwhelming though it may be, given all the options for what to do with your time, try to make reading a priority. Literature will thrill you, nurture your imagination, and solace you through hard times. It is an essential form of befriending yourself for life.
Natascha McElhone
Cherish your curiosity. It is your questions that will shape you. And books, the kind you love, will continuously provoke your mind and heart to grow with a deeper sense of understanding of yourself and how we all fit into this crazy, incredible world.
David Delgado
That’s why books were invented: so our souls could talk to each other. Books help our inside selves meet up and become friends, so we can find our way together through life. That’s why we love them so much.
William Powers
After that, one by one, I took them in. Absorbed their words. Pressed their pages. Called them by name. More years and many pages later, I love books. I love books the way I love my dog, my bicycle, and ice cream. Book by book, starting with one, I’ve known love that can only endure between a human and a text. And between you and me, I have never since passed a lonely book on a stoop.
Liz Danzico
October 4, 2019
This is a beautiful love letter to reading, books, and readers. Perfect for anyone in a reading slump, this will instantly make you want to jump into a new book. The art is gorgeous and the letters and illustrations are from a mix of fascinating people I have and haven’t heard of.
May 19, 2019
This magical book is described as "letters to a young reader" but really it's for everyone: from book lovers to those who consider reading not worth their time or effort. Of any age.
It me cry, it made me laugh, it made me gasp and it made me think. is a treasure chest filled with letters written by culture makers (writers, creators, philosophers, a Holocaust survivor) with each beautifully illustrated by artists and animators. All involved have had their lives shaped by reading.
Although I read this over a couple of days, this collection would be best appreciated by dipping in and out, allowing you to savour each offering.
My favourite encapsulated thoughts echoed in other letters on how reading helps us become a person in the world. While we can easily look up information, learning to assess that information and the legitimacy of a point of view requires thinking and weighing of ideas. The writer mentioned the difference between sympathy and empathy, a distinction she learned by reading.
Highly recommended for every bookshelf.
It me cry, it made me laugh, it made me gasp and it made me think. is a treasure chest filled with letters written by culture makers (writers, creators, philosophers, a Holocaust survivor) with each beautifully illustrated by artists and animators. All involved have had their lives shaped by reading.
Although I read this over a couple of days, this collection would be best appreciated by dipping in and out, allowing you to savour each offering.
My favourite encapsulated thoughts echoed in other letters on how reading helps us become a person in the world. While we can easily look up information, learning to assess that information and the legitimacy of a point of view requires thinking and weighing of ideas. The writer mentioned the difference between sympathy and empathy, a distinction she learned by reading.
Highly recommended for every bookshelf.
March 19, 2020
No matter what I write would do this book a justice.
It is exquisite, from its very own physical presence (the weight, the smell of the pages, the texture of the spine) to the content itself. It has been a long long time since I have been so absorbed by a mere interaction with the book, and the beauty of it immediately transported me back to my childhood memories. Remind me again why all adult books aren't illustrated?
A Velocity of Being brought tears to my eyes, made me laugh out loud and brought a child-like wonder to the miracle of reading once again...
I won't say more. This book is a masterpiece.
It is exquisite, from its very own physical presence (the weight, the smell of the pages, the texture of the spine) to the content itself. It has been a long long time since I have been so absorbed by a mere interaction with the book, and the beauty of it immediately transported me back to my childhood memories. Remind me again why all adult books aren't illustrated?
A Velocity of Being brought tears to my eyes, made me laugh out loud and brought a child-like wonder to the miracle of reading once again...
I won't say more. This book is a masterpiece.
December 28, 2018
Glorious. Spectacular. As a bookstore mama, I’d even go so far as to say that this book should be considered a publishing event. Though it was a late addition, I’d give it a proud spot in my top 5 of 2018. Also, if you don’t already follow Maria Popova on Brain Pickings, please do. It’s the smartest blog around, if I may.
July 25, 2021
When readers unite to declare their love for reading and the transformative power of books. Marvelous.
July 20, 2019
As soon as I caught a whiff of this collaboration, I knew that I had to have it. The idea of Claudia (Enchanted Lion) Bedrick and Maria (Brainpickings) Popova choosing a selection of inspirational thinkers and illustrators to share letters to future generations of readers just sounded like bliss and, for the most part, it is.
There were many letters that I felt immediately drawn to and there were others in which I took so much from their openness about how their futures were shaped by books. There are stories here of coming to reading late and others of falling for the written word as soon as possible. Books are seen as ways to escape and ways to see that we are not alone. Each writer addresses the reader and signs off - some have written poems, some long letters and others only a paragraph. I have my favourites but it's obvious that each reader who comes to this will have their own too.
One gripe I had was the letter which was addressed to girls only. Every other writer saw this project as an opportunity to address ALL readers about the power of literature and in purposefully choosing to just address girls, I felt as if I wasn't included in that conversation. But that's my own opinion and I am very sure that others will see it differently. Whatever the case, this is a beautiful collection with incredible accompanying artwork.
There were many letters that I felt immediately drawn to and there were others in which I took so much from their openness about how their futures were shaped by books. There are stories here of coming to reading late and others of falling for the written word as soon as possible. Books are seen as ways to escape and ways to see that we are not alone. Each writer addresses the reader and signs off - some have written poems, some long letters and others only a paragraph. I have my favourites but it's obvious that each reader who comes to this will have their own too.
One gripe I had was the letter which was addressed to girls only. Every other writer saw this project as an opportunity to address ALL readers about the power of literature and in purposefully choosing to just address girls, I felt as if I wasn't included in that conversation. But that's my own opinion and I am very sure that others will see it differently. Whatever the case, this is a beautiful collection with incredible accompanying artwork.
December 29, 2021
What a magical � way to end the year!�
September 13, 2019
The most beautiful book:) love looking at its wonderful art when I need something to cheer me up
February 17, 2020
Ahhhhh! This book! Letters to readers young and old from actors, artists, writers, to musicians, CEOs, to historians, and scientists. The artwork is breathtaking. A great gift idea! PS-The proceeds from the sale of this book benefit the NY public library system- how cool is that?
January 11, 2022
If this doesn’t yank you out of your reading slump and reignite your love for reading, I don’t know what will. This book is a collection of letters to readers by all sorts of interesting folks whose lives were changed by books accompanied by beautiful illustrations. What’s not to like?
November 28, 2019
I’m not sure what I expected when I picked this up from the library; I booked it by accident while trying to find another book by a poet featured in this collection. I had some trepidation when reading the description; I’m not the biggest fan of the uncritical celebration of Book Culture(tm) and wasn’t sure whether or not this would just be bland platitudes that said more about growing up middle class in North America than about reading. Thankfully I was wrong. There are some truly stellar collections of letters, illustrations, and wonderful stories shared here. Some are less exciting or unique than others, but many of them brought me to tears or reminded me of my own childhood as a book lover, or about my quest now as a recovering academic to rediscover pleasure reading. I’ll be buying a copy, not only to savour the illustrations more in-depth, but also because many of the letters I know I’ll want to revisit again and again like old friends.
July 11, 2019
Don't be put off by the fact that this looks like a textbook! The artwork is astounding and each letter is so unique. This is a beautiful tribute to the power of reading and gave me so many other books and writers to explore.
"Books don't teach us about life, they just call forth what our mind suspects, our heart hopes, and our spirit knows to be true."
"To read is to expose a vulnerability, for at least a brief moment, to surrender to another perspective, to bring it inside yourself and try it on."
"We are all strange and wonderful. And whenever you doubt it, just open a book."
"...you're the average of the five people you associate with the most. I believe you're also the average of the five books you hold closest to your heart."
"When you love the same book as someone else, it's like sharing a secret without saying a word. "
" I wish someone had told me earlier that it's more than ok to "just" want to read."
"Books don't teach us about life, they just call forth what our mind suspects, our heart hopes, and our spirit knows to be true."
"To read is to expose a vulnerability, for at least a brief moment, to surrender to another perspective, to bring it inside yourself and try it on."
"We are all strange and wonderful. And whenever you doubt it, just open a book."
"...you're the average of the five people you associate with the most. I believe you're also the average of the five books you hold closest to your heart."
"When you love the same book as someone else, it's like sharing a secret without saying a word. "
" I wish someone had told me earlier that it's more than ok to "just" want to read."
December 6, 2019
I absolutely agree with so many of these letters about the reasons we read, but a handful of them actually moved me for tears. For the Reader (capital R) in your life, this book is a gorgeous and achingly sweet rumination, celebration, and meditation on the place of the Book in our human journey. The artwork is stunning, and I think these would also make a wonderful read aloud for bedtime.
January 31, 2021
The dawn of our fast friendship was also a peculiar point in culture. Those were the early days of ebooks and the golden age of social media, when the very notion of reading � of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual surrender to a cohesive thread of thought composed by another human being, through which your own interior world can undergo a symphonic transformation � was becoming tattered by the fragment fetishism of the Web. Even those of us who partook in the medium openheartedly and optimistically were beginning to feel the chill of its looming shadow.
…writes Maria Popova of Brainpickings fame in her introduction to A Velocity of Being, Letters to A Young Reader, edited by herself, and Claudia Bedrick, who has published this paean to reading, under Enchanted Lion Books. The book is a collection of 121 letters written to young readers, by creative people in several dimensions of life, about why they read, how does reading change them, who read to them when they were kids, and what sort of books they read now. Each letter is accompanied by visual interpretations of the letters, rendered by talented illustrators. From the passage I have quoted here, readers might come to a conclusion that Popova and Bedrick look down upon people who read on devices, but their truth is far from that. They don’t judge how you read, but they worry about the answer to the bigger questions � do you read at all? Will the generations who follow us read at all?
I took solace in a beautiful 1930 essay by Hermann Hesse titled The Magic of the Book in which the Nobel laureate argued that no matter how much our technology may evolve, reading will remain an elemental human hunger. Decades before the Internet as we know it existed, Hesse wrote: “We need not fear a future elimination of the book. On the contrary, the more that certain needs for entertainment and education are satisfied through other inventions, the more the book will win back in dignity and authority.
It was at this point, when technology was actively changing the landscape of reading, Popova and Bedrick began a project that went on for 8 years � reaching out to writers, scientists, philosophers, musicians, and even a Holocaust survivor, requesting for letters from them, their offering to young readers, and for the young readers in adults � and ended with this book, a brilliant meditation on reading. The book is Popova and Bedrick’s gift to everybody involved in the grand, noble business of words. I picked up the book today to refer to my notes. Unwittingly, I read one letter after the other, ran my hands on the illustrations, only to realise that I was engrossed that I had almost forgotten to write this blog. It feels like A Velocity of Being has a beating heart; it almost can be felt when you touch the book, and something in you shifts, as though your love for reading quietly collides with the collective devotion that emanates from all the letters.
My favourite letters are the ones written by Jacqueline Woodson, Alain de Botton, Diane Ackerman, and Janna Levin. For now, I vividly remember their letters. A few months later, if you read the book, and talk to me about your favourites, I might say that I love what you love because I love everything about this book. In the Illustrations Department, each artist’s work is precious. Sometimes, the illustrations match the letters, and sometimes, they even lift them up. The Fan Brothers� artwork of Where The Wild Things Are is ridiculously stunning that whenever I look at it, I gasp, and wish that I could be a part of that group, and listen to the monster read the book to me.
In her letter, Woodson writes about what reading does, and what matters most, as she holds her son, and reads a book to him. “…the two of us inside one story, won’t always be here…� � the priceless joy of sharing a story with someone, reading a book together. Diane Ackerman writes about the time when the bookmobile was her portal to multiple universes created by writers. “No matter where life takes you, you’re never alone with a book� they explore and celebrate all it means to be human,� says Ackerman. The title of the book is borrowed from Janna Levin’s letter. Levin is one of my favourite scientists, and I immensely enjoyed her book Black Hole Survival Guide. Her sciency letter reads, “Books look static and quiet but they are not. They exude a pressure. They have a melody and stride. But they are only effective when balanced by the pressure of the reader, when they can reflect as well as transmit, when they elongate or quicken according to the velocity of the reader. You, reader, define the experience of the book. Every book you read could only be read in precisely that way by you.� All the 121 of them, loudly, quietly, humorously, beseechingly, assertively, tell the young readers that books are our light to navigate this dark, cold, chaotic yet magnificent universe.
Who was I when I was as young as the intended audience of A Velocity of Being? I was a shy, anxious girl, who was deposited in the only library in my neighbourhood, by my sister who wanted a break from me as she went on adventures by herself. I wish I had the curiosity to look around, be enchanted by a cover art, be piqued by a title. I wish I had the courage to walk up to the stoic librarian, and ask for a recommendation. I sat on a stool, and prayed for my sister to return on time to collect me.
At school, I was taken to the library just a handful of times. It was hard to focus on what the librarian was saying, for my focus was constantly buried in my classmates� giggles. The librarian had a massive mole on her chin, and several strands of hair hung from it. A harmless mole looked like a goatee on her face, and the girls in my class couldn’t look beyond that. Maybe, that undermined the librarian’s confidence. She always seemed restless, and removed, and the children were mean to her. I wish she had taken me into the safe world of books, but she had to fight her own battles. The librarian continued to work in the school, but the classes were suspended, ending my journey into the world of books, even before it started. So, A Velocity of Being magnified my loss unintentionally, but it’s still okay. I am in my early 30’s, and I want to be optimistic about making up for what I couldn’t access when I was younger.
That’s why Alain de Botton’s letter resonates with me the most. His letter has a universal tone; its audience can be anybody � the youngest, the younger, and the young.
Dear Reader,
We wouldn’t need books quite so much if everyone around us understood us well. But they don’t. Even those who love us get us wrong. They tell us who we are but miss things out They claim to know what we need, but forget to ask us properly first. They can’t understand what we feel � and sometimes, we’re unable to tell them, because we don’t really understand it ourselves. That’s where books come in. They explain us to ourselves and to others, and make us feel less strange, less isolated and less alone. We might have lots of good friends, but even with the best friends in the world, there are things that no one quite gets. That’s the moment to turn to books. They are friends waiting for us any time we want them, and they will always speak honestly to us about what really matters. They are the perfect cure for loneliness. They can be our very closest friends.
Yours,
Alain
November 24, 2021
The art is stunningly gorgeous and the letters are diverse, while still all love songs to books and reading. Although the book is subtitled “Letters to a Young Reader,� they are really pitched to the adults who put books in the hands of children. Teachers, librarians, book-loving parents, and artists would all love this collection. It’s a beautiful coffee table book.
Read
May 13, 2024🫶🫶
February 3, 2020
My hearttt. 💜💜💜💜💜💜
October 11, 2020
I started reading it and it was interesting but it seemed very long and a bit repetitive so I didn’t finish it. The bit I read was good though.
December 30, 2023
One of the greatest books I’ve ever read. Every family should own this book. This might be the gift I give to everyone, for the rest of my days. A housewarming gift, a gift given to every child born, a copy bestowed upon every adult becoming a grandparent for the first time. Books are Life and the tie that binds each human to another. A perfect, perfect book.
April 28, 2022
A delightful collection of letters, directed to the younger generations, from some of the great creators on the impact of reading. I think this will be a good go-to book when in a reading slump, and maybe also to take a step back and reflect on why you started reading.
August 13, 2020
Dear Reader,
Books are glorious. Each one an event. One of my favorite experiences growing up was visiting the library in my hometown. I lived on a farm and could only go to the library occasionally; it had to be open when there was a reason for my family being in town.
What I remember most about that library: the wide oak staircase that lead from the entry down into the dusty and damp smelling lower level where the children’s books were kept, its wood bookshelves, the oak darkened by age, loaded with books; its dark oak trim and super sized mop boards in contrast to its white walls; the oak card catalogs; the ceremony of checking out books: the card you signed after removing it from the pocket envelope glued inside the back cover of the book, your signature below the name of the last person who had borrowed the book, and then the date stamped by the librarian on the pocket envelope, which told you when it was due back.
And then what it felt like to return a stack of books once I’d read them. Can you imagine what that felt like?
My life would be far less interesting without books. I’m an artist. Like other artists, I exercise my imagination almost as often as I eat. “Phantom Tollbooth� and “The Hobbit� were childhood favorites. For many, many years, decades even, “Little Women� was the only book I did not finish reading. I just couldn’t get interested in the story and for too long felt I had failed by not finishing it. I finally read in late 2019.
“My Antonia� by Willa Cather was the first book I could not put down. I had read many others before it but no other book had the same explosive impact: once I finished reading it I found it painful to wait, I was so anxious to get another book, one equally as good.
A few of the books I remember reading as I got older are Mary Stewart’s King Arthur trilogy, “Fear of Flying,� “Five Smooth Stones,� “Atlas Shrugged,� “Left Hand of Darkness� and many other Ursula Le Guin books, along with many John Irving books.
As I got older, still, I established the habit of reading an author’s books in the order in which they were written, whenever possible, in part to see how the author’s writing and themes evolved over time. I borrow most of the books I read from the library, so requesting them in the order in which they were written, and having them available when I was ready for them was a little tricky.
Fr. L, my English teacher at the Catholic high school I attended, had a closet full of books. Multiple copies of books, enough for an entire class of students to each have their own book, at least temporarily. Books like “The Lord of the Flies,� West’s “The Devil’s Advocate,� “Animal Farm,� and “The Catcher in the Rye.� One day I helped him put away books. This was a huge privilege; he only asked me to help that one time. I remember asking Fr. L when my class would get to read the books in the closet.
He said, “Never.�
I was crushed.
He said, “These books are too hard for your class.�
I had to hide my tears.
Not long after that, Fr. L told my class - to our faces - that we weren’t nearly as smart as the current senior class. And that they were a joy to teach. Some time after that, yet another priest - Fr. B, the guidance counselor - told me I was too stupid for college.
I walked out of his office and made up my mind I was going to read every book in Fr. L’s closet and then every book in the library.
Reading kept me motivated.
After marrying and having three children, I put myself through college, undergraduate and graduate school. I graduated with honors and received two fellowships for graduate school - one was a Jacob Javits Fellowship, given to students with superior ability.
My curiosity, my tendencies for a deeper understanding, my imagination, my restlessness, the inability to accept the status quo drove me to reading and creating. I’m an artist and reader.
I didn’t need Fr. L or Fr. B to push me, in order to achieve what I have. Support for who I was and for my love of reading � things they could not see - would have been more productive. And I might not have developed such a suspicion of people’s motives had their actions been otherwise.
Become a reader, a deep questioning reader.
Theresa
Books are glorious. Each one an event. One of my favorite experiences growing up was visiting the library in my hometown. I lived on a farm and could only go to the library occasionally; it had to be open when there was a reason for my family being in town.
What I remember most about that library: the wide oak staircase that lead from the entry down into the dusty and damp smelling lower level where the children’s books were kept, its wood bookshelves, the oak darkened by age, loaded with books; its dark oak trim and super sized mop boards in contrast to its white walls; the oak card catalogs; the ceremony of checking out books: the card you signed after removing it from the pocket envelope glued inside the back cover of the book, your signature below the name of the last person who had borrowed the book, and then the date stamped by the librarian on the pocket envelope, which told you when it was due back.
And then what it felt like to return a stack of books once I’d read them. Can you imagine what that felt like?
My life would be far less interesting without books. I’m an artist. Like other artists, I exercise my imagination almost as often as I eat. “Phantom Tollbooth� and “The Hobbit� were childhood favorites. For many, many years, decades even, “Little Women� was the only book I did not finish reading. I just couldn’t get interested in the story and for too long felt I had failed by not finishing it. I finally read in late 2019.
“My Antonia� by Willa Cather was the first book I could not put down. I had read many others before it but no other book had the same explosive impact: once I finished reading it I found it painful to wait, I was so anxious to get another book, one equally as good.
A few of the books I remember reading as I got older are Mary Stewart’s King Arthur trilogy, “Fear of Flying,� “Five Smooth Stones,� “Atlas Shrugged,� “Left Hand of Darkness� and many other Ursula Le Guin books, along with many John Irving books.
As I got older, still, I established the habit of reading an author’s books in the order in which they were written, whenever possible, in part to see how the author’s writing and themes evolved over time. I borrow most of the books I read from the library, so requesting them in the order in which they were written, and having them available when I was ready for them was a little tricky.
Fr. L, my English teacher at the Catholic high school I attended, had a closet full of books. Multiple copies of books, enough for an entire class of students to each have their own book, at least temporarily. Books like “The Lord of the Flies,� West’s “The Devil’s Advocate,� “Animal Farm,� and “The Catcher in the Rye.� One day I helped him put away books. This was a huge privilege; he only asked me to help that one time. I remember asking Fr. L when my class would get to read the books in the closet.
He said, “Never.�
I was crushed.
He said, “These books are too hard for your class.�
I had to hide my tears.
Not long after that, Fr. L told my class - to our faces - that we weren’t nearly as smart as the current senior class. And that they were a joy to teach. Some time after that, yet another priest - Fr. B, the guidance counselor - told me I was too stupid for college.
I walked out of his office and made up my mind I was going to read every book in Fr. L’s closet and then every book in the library.
Reading kept me motivated.
After marrying and having three children, I put myself through college, undergraduate and graduate school. I graduated with honors and received two fellowships for graduate school - one was a Jacob Javits Fellowship, given to students with superior ability.
My curiosity, my tendencies for a deeper understanding, my imagination, my restlessness, the inability to accept the status quo drove me to reading and creating. I’m an artist and reader.
I didn’t need Fr. L or Fr. B to push me, in order to achieve what I have. Support for who I was and for my love of reading � things they could not see - would have been more productive. And I might not have developed such a suspicion of people’s motives had their actions been otherwise.
Become a reader, a deep questioning reader.
Theresa
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