#bookitforward

A few weeks ago, my daughter received a package in the mail.  It was a book, one that she has been really wanting to read.  What confused me was that it was from a “friend of a friend” and it wasn’t a gift for a special occasion.  No note of explanation.  Just the book.

I told her to contact the friend to find out why the friend of the friend was sending her a book and if this meant my daughter needed to send a book to someone.  We’ve participated in such book exchanges before and usually the book is accompanied by a letter explaining who should receive the next book.  My daughter was completely perplexed that I was demanding a book-giving motive.  To her, a child surrounded by books since she was born, receiving random books is not a problem that needs to be solved.

“Did you text your friend?” I asked the next day.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“I don’t need to do anything.”

“So, you’re telling me that this person just decided to send you a book for absolutely no reason?  That makes no sense!”

I made her write a thank you card.

Two weeks later she got another book – from a different friend of the same friend.  Duplicate M.O.

This.  Would. Not. Do.  People don’t just randomly send other people books, I thought.  There’s something weird going on.

And then I saw this Kid President video and felt pretty guilty. (But the “slides” made me laugh.)

So, there really are people out there who just send books with no strings attached.  And it’s a good idea!

What book has inspired you?  What book do more people need to read?  #bookitforward!

(By the way, if you like this idea of people sharing inspiring books, be sure to check out the Call Me Ishmael project!  Also, there are many more inspiring videos for students to be found on my Pinterest Board.)