ABSTRACT
Books are what reading is for. Reading has a variety of uses, from understanding signs and tax demands to obtaining information from newspapers, journals, e-mails and the World Wide Web. Books, however, still contain the kind of information and the kinds of human experience that define people’s understanding. For young children who have the experience of them, books remain central. The promise of a story, of excitement, of anticipation and the sense of an ending are all symbolized by books. They are definitions of education, of learning as well as pleasure.
