Whenever we go to the library, I encourage L to ask the librarian a question. Often he doesn’t have one. Sometimes we make something up. Grown-up practice. Seeking Insight 101. He humors me, mostly, as do the staff at San Marcos Public Library. He didn’t have any questions as we arrived today, but after we selected several picture books, he said, “We should ask the librarian if they have any Mario Brothers books.”
Yes — yes we should. We went to the desk. He asked independently, voice loud and clear, “Do you have any Mario books, or no?”
She punched in a search at her computer. Nothing looked especially promising, but we got a call number to the juvenile gaming section. Indeed, no Mario, but L immediately spotted a Pokémon visual companion.
He’s over the moon. The book is fat and full of way too many words, but lots of pictures, too. He grew 10 feet tall marching up to the librarian to show her his discovery. They shared their favorite Pokémon (Pikachu) and later we talked about serendipity and the magic of the library.
So many books! You’ll never get to them all. Some of them you’ll love, some of them you won’t, and that’s okay. Some you know to look for, some hide in plain sight. They surprise you. They enchant. The best are the ones you’d never guess were always right there, waiting.
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