I Challenge YOU to write about…
What books changed the way you look at the world?
Tuesday Jan 28th prompt
Writers are readers. We acquire our love of words by seeing how others share their stories using words we know and those we don’t. Each of us has a book or six that made such a difference in our lives that we have never forgotten it.
I have authors I have adored since I was a teen. I have a few that I have loved since middle school. I’ll be writing about one or two of these over the coming days. But I wanted to share a few authors whose books changed my life from when I first read them — or rather, when they were first read to me.
I started reading before I started school. For me that was very early… I started kindergarten at 4. I was already reading books by myself. Little Golden Books. Dr. Seuss. Bible stories. Any number of other stories
Dr. Seuss’ books were definitely early winners. My sisters and I were read them from before we could remember. My favorite? One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. The pattern of the words. The flow of the story. The use of different ideas put into silly words and rhymes. The whole thing just made me smile.
In second grade, we moved (again). This time, I ended up sharing a room with my little sister. We fought… a lot. That fighting brought a book into my life that I wish I still had. “This Room Is MINE”. All about sisters whose mom splits their room so that they stop fighting about what is whose.
Within a few years, the picture books were replaced by chapter books. Pippi Longstocking. Dr. Doolittle. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Etc…
As a preteen, I found James Herriot and James Michener. Those big fat books filled airplane rides from one corner of the world to another. L. M. Montgomery. Louisa May Alcott. They got me through the moves.
Once we moved back to the US, I found Tolkien. Anne McCaffrey. So many other great science fiction and fantasy writers. They expanded my world view. They let me believe the future could be better than the present.
I want to know…. What authors/books/stories/poems changed your life? What made you think differently? What saved you when you most needed it? Tell us — in your own words.
The prompt for Tuesday, January 28th, 2020 is all about books that changed your life. Poetry, photo essays, essays, stories.. send them our way!
Please be sure to give your piece the tag “Book That Changed My Life”. The other four tags can be anything you wish. If you are looking for our submission guidelines, you can find them here: