Myra here.
Every Saturday we hope to share with you our thoughts on reading and books. We thought that it would be good practice to reflect on our reading lives and our thoughts about reading in general. While on occasion, we would feature a few books in keeping with this, there would be a few posts where we will just write about our thoughts on read-alouds, libraries, reading journals, upcoming literary conferences, books that we are excited about, and just book love miscellany in general.
Wish (Amazon | Book Depository)
Written and Illustrated by Matthew Cordell Publisher: Disney Hyperion (2015) ISBN: 9781484708750 (ISBN10: 148470875X) Borrowed via Overdrive. Book photos taken by me.
Dream (Amazon | Book Depository)
Written and Illustrated by Matthew Cordell Publisher: Disney Hyperion (2015) ISBN: 9781484708750 (ISBN10: 148470875X) Borrowed via Overdrive. Book photos taken by me.
Hope (Amazon | Book Depository)
Written and Illustrated by Matthew Cordell Publisher: Disney Hyperion (2019) ISBN: 9781484773413 (ISBN10: 1484773411). Borrowed via Overdrive. Book photos taken by me.
I generally avoid sappy, sentimental stories that do more for parents than children. However, there is something in Matthew Cordell’s Family / Wish series that moved me deeply. It could be the pandemic that made me perceive feel-good, warm, thoughtful stories such as these in a different light. I suspect, however, that it is really Cordell’s masterful delivery, intention, and delicate maneuvering that nudged my soul a bit, despite my jaded reader sensibilities.
The first book, Wish, explores the journeys of a couple wishing for a child, and all the quiet waiting and anticipation that this yearning brings – and the inevitable frustration and sadness the waiting sometimes engenders.
Dream is, perhaps, the title that resonated with me deeply – since we are now empty nesters, our only daughter off to “explore unknown places” and be who she is meant to become as she attends university in Seattle. Here, the parents’ dreams for their child – from infancy to adulthood – is captured so poignantly.
The last book in the series, Hope, is a loveletter of grandparents to their grandchild which includes nuggets of wisdom from their twilight years. What I especially love about this book is when the grandchild found her voice towards the end, with the declaration that:
Your greatest wish,
your greatest dream,
your greatest hope,
lives in me.
As I grow older, I find these affirming and encouraging words that ooze with kindness and good intentions even more important given the chaotic world we live in. They provide comfort and a place to land.
Gathering Books 
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