Book Report: 100 Cupboards

I have been an avid reader for most of my days. In my pre-literate days I was anxious to learn to read. In those ancient days they did not really try to teach kindergartners to read. I had to wait for the first grade. When I reached that opportune level of education I put myself diligently to the task of learning to read. Dick and Jane were my friends. I was voracious. By the end of the first grade I had already begun feasting on third grade readers.

Books. Books. More books. The Mushroom Planet books by Eleanor Cameron were early favorites. A friend and I got heavily into Freddy the Pig books. I read The Boxcar Children, The Borrowers, and ever so many more wonderful tales.

Then I discovered Science Fiction. It took time for me to grasp that warp travel through space was just a literary tool. I wondered just why we remained stuck on this one world when warp drive would let us go out there, meeting far greater adventures than this small planet afforded. My early youth preceded Star Trek by a number of years, I am afraid.

There was probably a failure of appreciation on my part. This world is full of adventures, but the romantic nature of imagination always makes the grass greener on the other side of the Galaxy. Hey, I was a kid. Asimov. Clark. Heinlein. Juvenile literature, and more. Wells. Verne. Lovecraft. Poe. A book from the library, a bag of barbecue potato chips, and my private chamber. I was a reclusive child, and I don't regret it.

I never lost my fondness for fantasy adventure. Nor for juvenile literature. That is why I was intrigued when my wife brought home 100 Cupboards, by N. D. Wilson. I am sure she was captured by the intriguing cover art. I know I was. When she finished it, I jumped at the opportunity to have a fun read. I just finished a few minutes ago.

Be forewarned, it is first in a series. If you are no longer a child, or child enough for juvenile literature, you might turn from the intriguing adventure of so many cupboards, containing magic and mystery. Otherwise, I recommend you jump right in. Open a cupboard or two. See where they might take you.

If you have young people in your life, young people who read, this could be just the gift to give. Magic doors and such seem to have a strong appeal for young people, and some people who are not so young. I know I still love the mystery of a cabinet or closet, and hope always for some magical place on the other side.

Magic. Mystery. Cupboards and other places. Oh, and baseball. Yep. Good story. Give it a try.