#160 Welcome to Our Many Readers

     Each pin on this world map represents one of the 62 countries that has appeared on the stats pages of this blog and/or my second one, ebooks4kids, since September 3, 2010. 

     The list of these countries is as follows:

1.     Australia

2.     Belarus

3.     Brazil

4.     Bulgaria

5.     Canada

6.     Chile

7.     China

8.     Croatia

9.     Cyprus

10.  Czech Republic

11.  Denmark

12.  Egypt

13.  France

14.  Germany

15.  Honduras

16.  Hong Kong

17.  India

18.  Indonesia

19.  Iran

20.  Ireland

21.  Israel

22.  Italy

23.  Jamaica

24.  Japan

25.  Jordan

26.  Kenya

27.  Kuwait

28.  Latvia

29.  Luxembourg

30.  Malaysia

31.  Malta

32.  Mexico

33.  Moldova

34.  Morocco

35.  Netherlands

36.  New Zealand

37.  Nigeria

38.  Papua New Guinea

39.  Philippines

40.  Poland

41.  Puerto Rico

42.  Romania

43.  Russia

44.  Saudi Arabia

45.  Singapore

46.  Slovenia

47.  South Africa

48.  South Korea

49.  Spain

50.  Sudan

51.  Sweden

52.  Switzerland

53.  Taiwan

54.  Tanzania

55.  Thailand

56.  Tunisia

57.  Turkey

58.  Ukraine

59.  United Arab Emirates

60.  United Kingdom

61.  USA

62.  Venezuela

    I want to pause to welcome my three most recent audiences from Mexico, Cyprus, and Egypt. The world-wide interest that I observe in children's literacy continues to amaze and fascinate me.

     When I watched the ceremonies and performances of athletes from around the world at the Sochi Olympics, I thought again of my own diverse audience of readers from around the world. Sixty-two of those same countries had exhibited an interest in children's reading. What a civilized world we are becoming! 

     Often the international television news is less than positive however, and I can only hope that children in troubled areas might find books to be an escape and comfort from their lives of daily misery.

     This type of escape into the world of books is sometimes needed by youngsters on our own doorsteps as well.  As a teacher, I once welcomed a new student to my second-grade classroom.  He was living in a shelter with his mother, and resisted being physically close to the other children.  If someone passed too closely to him, he would push them away or shout at them.  

     This child was bright but had retreated into his world of books. He became especially interested in a biography of Louis Braille, and his mother helped him request a packet of information about this inventor of writing for blind people.  When he received it in the mail, he found enough confidence to share it with the class, and by the end of the year, he was even becoming something of a class leader.  

     I'm sure that books helped him to survive a difficult time in his young life, and the experience reminded me that books can mean many things to many different people.  

     Please keep reading, and appreciate all that books can do for us....