Promotional Information

An expansive collection of love letters to books, libraries, and reading, from a wonderfully eclectic array of thinkers and creators.

A Brain Pickings Best Children's Book of the Year

"An embarrassment of riches." -The New York Times

About the Author

Edited and introduced by Maria Popova, who has been writing since 2006 about what she reads on Brain Pickings (brainpickings.org), which is now included in the Library of Congress archive of culturally valuable materials; Edited by Claudia Bedrick, publisher, editorial and art director of Enchanted Lion Books.

Reviews

A New York Times Bestseller
A Brain Pickings Best Children’s Book of 2018
A CBC "Hot Off The Press" Selection of December 2018
Featured in Green Source DFW December 2018 gift guide

“An embarrassment of riches.”
*The New York Times*

Impelled to defend the dignity and authority of books, and the transformative power of continuing to read them in the digital age, Maria Popova and Claudia Zoe Bedrick spent eight years collecting the words and artwork for A Velocity of Being, a treasury of thoughtful, quirky, heartfelt letters from notable adults to the young reader... For adults devoted to raising strong readers amid what Popova calls the 'fragment fetishism' of the internet—and for book lovers of any age on a Christmas list—A Velocity of Being has arrived not a moment too soon.
*The Wall Street Journal*

This feast of a book provides ample food for thought, with some dazzling visuals, to boot. The collection will nourish readers of all kinds, deserving a permanent place on our bookshelves.
*The National Book Review*

This should live on the nightstand, be picked up regularly, and savored. A treasure trove for anyone who loves words and pictures.
*Booklist*

“The heft of A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader makes it feel grand and immense; momentous on its first page turn yet deeply personal. It’s a collection of letters and art for readers young and old from a community of writers, artists and other notable figures who speak about the deep magic of falling headlong into a story, the transformative power of words—stories settling into us, burrowing into our souls, running through our veins and becoming a part of who we are… Reading through compelling letter after letter is overwhelming in the best way possible. What are we without words, stories and books?”
*Avery and Augustine*