" As Dilys Evans writes in Show and Tell, a book about illustration for young readers, picture books “are often the first place children discover poetry and art, honor and loyalty, right and wrong, sadness and hope.” And it’s true: a child sitting on a lap at home or in the friendly security of circle time at school or at the library has a chance to witness the emotions of others and experiment with his own without consequence. He can try out big ideas, find consolation for his secret worries, and risk a glimpse at what scares him. I "

― Meghan Cox Gurdon , The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction