Make Believe

This morning was a total stinker. I woke up with a dull headache, teeth grinding, fists clenched. Sometimes my body becomes haunted, a vessel for a thing; total and all consuming. It could be a conversation the day before or a problem I’m trying to solve, it doesn’t really matter what that the thing is. These moments suck because it feels like I’m trapped inside my body with no way out but it’s extra annoying because the remedy is always so predictable and boring: stop work, find the nearest ocean, push my limp body up that hill, return to literature and books, books, books. But when I woke up this morning I didn’t know that Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac Barnett was the antidote. Because, dear reader, let me tell you: this book is only-the-finest-punk-rock-remedy for my bad brain goo. Mac’s a children’s writer and in Make Believe he argues that these books aren’t a silly genre, they’re a form we should treat seriously and respect. Meaning, books for children…