April 23rd is celebrated worldwide as International Book Day, a date that reminds us of something essential: reading helps us grow, accompanies us, heals us, and connects us. Because a book is not just paper and ink… it is a refuge, an adventure, a helping hand.
Reading to someone, letting someone read to you, listening to a story, or telling one yourself… these are wonderful and intimate ways to create bonds between people. Shared stories fill our lives with voices, laughter, and questions that only books can awaken.
There is magic in the feel of paper; in turning a page carefully, in that unmistakable smell of new books full of promises, and in the soft scent of old books that hold secrets behind every page. A magic that a tablet or a mobile phone do not have.
Sitting down with a book and losing yourself in its pages is wonderful. Forget the clock, forget the noise, let the words take you to places you don’t dare going or even to experiences you only dream of, so that you may find the courage to do them. Books are brave for us: they teach us, they push us, they accompany us, and they give us wings. Let us always read and celebrate those who read to us, those who tell us stories, those who listen to us, and those who dream with us, holding a book in their hands.