The New York Times -
In Bookends, two writers take on questions about the world of books. This week, Francine Prose and Benjamin Moser discuss the difficulties of getting lost in reading after a certain age.
By Francine Prose
An adult reading experience may be a “dip” compared with a child’s “soak.”
One of the hardest things to remember about childhood, unless you are fortunate enough to spend time around a child, is the fact that, for many children, the line between reality and the imagination is thinner and more porous than it is for most adults. When a 4-year-old talks to her mermaid doll, she is talking to a mermaid. I remember inspecting my cereal bowl for the tiny gremlins that set off the mini-explosions that went snap, crackle and pop. The child who opens the cover of a Dr. Seuss book is not just reading the first page but entering a world populated by grotesque but giddily good-humored creatures.
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