A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader

New York Times Bestseller! ★ An expansive collection of love letters to books, libraries, and reading, from a wonderfully eclectic array of thinkers and creators.

"For book lovers of all ages." ―Wall Street Journal ​★ "An embarrassment of riches." ―New York Times

In this beautiful book, perfect for gifting, some of today's most appealing culture-makers―writers, artists, scientists, musicians, and philosophers―reflect on the joys of reading, how books broaden and deepen human experience, and the ways in which the written word has formed their own character.

On the page facing each letter, an illustration by a celebrated illustrator or graphic artist presents that artist's visual response.

Among the diverse contributions are letters from Jane Goodall, Jerome Bruner, Shonda Rhimes, Ursula K. Le Guin, Yo-Yo Ma, Judy Blume, Elizabeth Gilbert, Mary Oliver, and Jacqueline Woodson, as well as a 98-year-old Holocaust survivor, a pioneering oceanographer, and Italy's first woman in space.

Some of the illustrators, cartoonists, and graphic designers involved are Christian Robinson, Sophie Blackall, Sean Qualls, Oliver Jeffers, Daniel Salmieri, Mo Willems, Isabelle Arsenault, Carson Ellis, Shaun Tan, Tomi Ungerer, and Art Spiegelman.

This project is woven entirely of goodwill, generosity of spirit, and a shared love of books. Everyone involved has donated their time, and all profits will go to the New York Public Library systems. This stunning 272-page hardcover volume features a lay-flat binding to allow for greater ease of reading.

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.