Bookbabblers has Jenna Burtenshaw, author of ‘Wintercraft’ sharing her thoughts on reading with us…

Imagine there is a door in your house that changes shape every day.

Sometimes it is tall, gothic and black.  Sometimes it is blood red, with a sword propped against it and sounds of battle echoing from the other side.  Other times it is green and welcoming with forest creepers reaching in from whatever lies in the wild place beyond.

This door exists in every person’s world, but many people choose to ignore it. Like the Narnian wardrobe inviting Lucy Pevensie to step through its dusty coats for the very first time, the door stands patiently, waiting for us. Its appearance changes to match the mood of the person in front of it and the place it leads to alters all the time.  It is the door into both the scientific world of the future and the dinosaur-filled past; to worlds of magic and adventure, sorcery, history, impossibility, and every imaginable place in between.

Imagination is the only key needed to open this door.  With it, we can step through and discover new worlds of our own, or we can use books as our guides, leading us along paths and into stories that other readers have walked through before.

Whenever we pick up a book and read its first few lines, we step through that door and let the words carry us completely into another world.  Books invite readers to explore unlimited places and times.  They lead us down streets we have never seen and introduce us to fantastic characters that never would have existed until someone decided to write them down.

Books challenge us, excite us and scare us.  They share knowledge with us, and people who died many years ago can reach out from the past via their inky pages.  Books free our minds from the restrictions of everyday life, teach us how our own world could be made better and show us how people cope when life takes a turn for the worst.

Books have always been an important part of my life.  I remember sleeping with a book under my pillow when I was younger and reading by torchlight under the bedcovers during the night.  Most of them were adventure books, mysteries and fantasy stories. Even now, years later, my tastes have remained very much the same.

My writing space is lined with bookshelves and I love picking one out and curling up in a chair ready to head off through the imaginary door.  Reading is a kind of magic that many people take for granted.  Words really are just black marks on a page, but once you can decipher them an unlimited wealth of knowledge and experience is there to be explored.

When we give our imagination free rein and step through that door into the unknown, I think we learn a little bit about ourselves too along the way.  Give one book to ten people and most of them will see the world within it a little differently.  Few will agree exactly what a character looks like and each reader will relate to those characters in a different way.  This is because books allow the reader to remain in control.  Unlike film or television, where one view of a character or place is assumed to be right, books allow readers to draw those people and places using ingredients from our own lives and our own experiences.  Writers and storytellers show us glimpses of worlds they have created and invite us to fill the spaces in between.

I still sleep with a book or two near my bed and there are certain books from my childhood that I will never part with – stories like 101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith.  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl.

I can’t remember a time when I couldn’t read, and certainly can’t imagine a time when I will ever stop. Reading is a fascinating and infinitely rewarding experience.  The imaginary door is a permanent and welcome fixture in my world and I am happy to step through it as often as I can.

Thanks, Jenna. Is this how all Bookbabblers feel about reading? Share your thoughts with us on this great post.

Wintercraft is in our shop now, and you can find out more about Jenna and Wintercraft here, and follow her on Twitter here.