At the risk of being presumptuous, I’m going to assume that parents still read to their kids. At least, I hope so. My mother read to both my sister and me and instilled in us a great love of literature from a tender age—something that we both cherish as adults. To the best of my recollection, E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web” was the first that Mom read nightly to me, one chapter at a time, and I still remember the excitement and anticipation to hear the story unfold, tinged with sadness when the latest adventure drew to a close. Thanks to Mom, my sister and I had library cards by age five, and I remember how grown-up I felt checking out books on a monthly basis.

Here in the Upper Delaware River region, we have fantastic libraries with incredible programs for all ages, including the little ones. In Sullivan County alone, there are scads of locations (www.sullivan.lib.in.us) and I recommend checking out the resources available near you. Learning to read was important in our house, and the literary world of imagination became a magic portal, instilling a life-long love that led me down the path I still meander to this day. Is there a great novel in me yet? I wonder. My own aspirations aside, I still read, although not as voraciously as Mom did. Even in her 70s, her bedside table was piled high. It was not unusual for her to call me late at night, excitedly sharing the latest tome she had devoured, anxious for me to pick it up so that we could discuss it at length, before another title caught her fancy.

That said, I was thrilled to be invited by Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA) program director Bizzy Coy (www.artsalliancesite.org) and One Grand Books proprietor Aaron Hicklin (www.onegrandbooks.com) to join other readers in an afternoon celebrating books. The books and authors were chosen by Hicklin and his coterie of famous curators, who have selected what lines the shelves of his lovely bookstore on Main Street in Narrowsburg, NY. “One Grand is a curated bookstore in which celebrated thinkers, writers, artists and other creative minds share the 10 books they would take to their metaphorical desert island,” Hicklin explained to the crowd before the reading commenced, “providing the audience a window into the minds of the world’s most engaging people.”

While delighted to be included, I felt a bit inadequate when checking out the roster of readers chosen by Hicklin and Coy, which included NACL juggernaut Tannis Kowalchuk reading selections from Chris Kraus’s “I Love Dick” (definitely not for kids), Act Underground’s Wendy Merritt Kaufman’s phenomenal interpretation of Carrie Fisher’s “Wishful Drinking” and the Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop’s Paul Puerschner’s amusing and droll excerpt from John McPhee’s “Silk Parachute.” Highlighting the program (IMHO) was the Tusten/Cochecton Library’s (www.wsplonline.org) own Kyoshin Lohr, giving her all in an uncommonly adroit, hilariously rendered royal treatment of Alan Bennet’s “The Uncommon Reader,” which had the audience in stitches throughout.

As for me, I was given the task of reading from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “The Little Prince,” which Coy suggested would give folks an opportunity to get “a peek at the tender, sweet side of Jonathan Charles Fox”—a concept that was difficult for me to grasp, but I gave it a go. “Don’t tell anyone,” Bizzy confided, “but I was truly moved by your beautiful reading of ‘The Little Prince,’ and I teared up a little standing in the back row. Always glad for a chance to see Dharma,” she concluded. Shhh.

When asked for comment after the show, Bizzy shared more serious commentary: “Reading is a solitary endeavor, so it was a unique pleasure to hear these books brought to life together with an energetic crowd. I laughed, I cried [my fault, presumably] and probably ruined the recording emoting next to the video camera.” All of the titles listed here are available at One Grand. Coy went on to share what’s next for the Salon Series at the DVAA, which includes three more events, all free to the public. On Saturday, February 25 local writers will read their original poetry and short fiction inspired by the word “melt” for “Bring on the Thaw,” co-hosted by the Upper Delaware Writers Collective, which will be followed by a couple of other interesting events: “Shakespeare Songs” and a “Wikipedia Edit-a thon.” All the events are listed on the Arts Alliance website, or give Coy a call at 845/252-7576. Don’t tell anyone (as Coy would say), but if she’s busy, she’ll call you back.