“Always Trust Magic”

On this summer afternoon, my ten-year-old set aside his mountain of hefty library books for a dozen favorite picture books. We laughed between the lines of our inscriptions as well. He received Dr. Suess’s I’m Not Going to Get Up Today for his second Christmas “from all of us who do not care for 5 a.m. the way you do.”

We loved Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Cookies all over again. It was a bookseller’s suggestion for his 7th birthday, with a duplicate for his teacher’s collection. Jane Dyer also illustrated Mem Fox’s beloved Time for Bed. (When did that slip out of our tuck-in routine?) We were so touched to revisit Jane & Amy’s book, we almost cried, and then we looked up Amy’s site, and we did cry. We love this writer.

Amy looks out at an ATM machine from her cafe writing perch and decides there’s no poetry in that, so now it stands for “Always Trust Magic.” You have to visit her, WhoIsAmy and also make a point of seeing her short film, The Beckoning of Lovely.

Amy is a brilliant example of being present, curious, and imaginative, and courageously inviting others to play. It’s a great recipe for magic.

Text © Gwyn Nichols 2010