Mario Joseph has begged me all week to buy him books from Battelle’s Book Fair. When I picked him up today, he bolted over to me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the book stand.

“Are my books still under the table?” he asked the sales woman. She reached under her table and delivered four books to Mario. He took them and smiled at me. The sales woman told me that for the past two days he has hidden those four books from everyone because he was worried that someone else would buy them. He loves them, he told her, because they have “real” pictures in them.

He immediately flipped through the pages to show me random pictures he liked. He specifically pointed out the monkeys book knowing they are one of my favorite creatures.

He begged me to read them to him after football. Oh, I hope this love for books remains for a lifetime!