THIS BOOK BELONGS TO
This is my book. My favorite book. I carry it with me wherever I go.
There’s jam on the cover from yesterday’s toast and crayon inside from when I was little.
I read it alone. We read it together.
Again and again, and, please, just once more?
Sometimes it goes missing and I have to find it.
But I always find it. “Again!” “Again!”
I read to the dog.
I read to the goldfish.
I read to the seventeen worms in a jar.
I read on the couch, on the floor, at the table.
On a lap. In the bathroom— ahem, you know where.
On the porch. In the park.
On a bench. In a tree.
On the bus. On the subway.
My book and me.
At night in my bed in a room full of dark, my book and my face in a circle of light.
I move like the characters, groove like the characters, dress like the characters— guess who I am?
I know every word. They’re right here inside me.
I say them out loud whenever I want.
I don’t hear you call. I can’t come right now.
I’m too far away in the world of my book.
This is my book. My favorite book.
I wake and I take it.
I sleep and I keep it.
Do you have a book?
A favorite book?
A book that you love the way I love mine?
My Book and Me
Text copyright © 2024 Linda Sue Park
Illustrations copyright © 2024 Chris Raschka
Published in 2024 by Red Comet Press LLC, Brooklyn, NY
Creative Director: Michael Yuen-Killick
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023941966
ISBN (HB): 978-1-63655-094-7
ISBN (EBOOK): 978-1-63655-095-4
First Edition Manufactured in China RedCometPress.com
A portion of the royalties and proceeds from this book have been donated by the author, illustrator, and publisher to support The Rabbit hOle in Kansas City, an immersive museum experience around children’s literature for visitors of all ages.
For more information please visit: www.rabbitholekc.org.
