The Living Center of the Universe

From William Steig’s (reluctant) speech of acceptance of the Caldecott medal for his children’s book, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble:

“Art, including juvenile literature, has the power to make any spot on earth the living center of the universe, and unlike science, which often gives us the illusion of understanding things we really do not understand, it helps us to know life in a way that still keeps before us the mystery of things.”

I think, sometimes, that this is exactly how children read, and experience stories. Brilliant stories become the centre of the universe, for the time we spend in the story, and keep before us the mystery of things.

Maureen