Esta mañana he tenido la inmensa suerte de poder estar presente en la charla que el escritor Tony Lee ha dado en mi instituto. No ha ido por dinero. No ha ido a vender sus libros. Ni siquiera a hablar de ellos. Ha ido solamente para motivar a los chicos a leer, y lo ha hecho con un discurso tan divertido como maravilloso. Ha conseguido que todos estuvieran pendientes, en silencio, interesados en cada palabra que decía, en cada gesto que hacía. Y, del mismo modo, yo he guardado silencio absoluto, he escuchado el discurso con toda mi atención, lo he disfrutado al máximo y, sobre todo, he aprendido.

He aprendido que, cuando se trata de animar a leer, cualquier otro propósito está de más. Olvidémonos de las ventas. Olvidémonos de la fama. Olvidémonos de firmar libros. Olvidemos todo lo demás y centrémonos en lo que realmente importa: que los niños puedan ver los beneficios de la lectura, que se interesen por ella, que no se pierdan disfrutar de un buen libro.

A eso ha venido, y creo que lo ha conseguido con creces. Y he pensado en lo poco que este tipo de actos se hace en los centros españoles. Quizás pensemos que la lectura no es importante. Quizás, también, falten autores como Tony Lee, tan solo interesados en encender la chispa necesaria para que algunos chicos a los que no les gusta leer, busquen un libro y se pierdan entre sus páginas. Gracias, Tony.

“La forma de estar inspirado y motivado es haciendo lo que te gusta, haciendo lo que amas”.

Raphael Saadiq

This morning I have had the pleasure of assisting author Tony Lee’s speech at my school. He didn’t come for the money. He didn’t come to sell his books. He has not even mentioned them. He has just come for motivating the students to read more, and he has done it with a speech as funny as wonderful. He has made possible that every single child was listening carefully, in silence, interested in every word he was saying, in every gesture he made. And, in the same way, I have kept absolute silent, I have listened to the speech with all my attention, I have enjoyed it and, overall, I have learnt.

I have learnt that, when it is about encouraging people to read, any other purpose is not worth it. Let’s forget about selling books. Let’s forget about fame. Let’s forget about dedicating books. Let’s forget about the rest and let’s focus on what really matters: letting children know how nice reading is, making them interested on it, telling them that they cannot miss the chance of reading a good book.

He has come just for that and he has made it possible in a lovely way. Then, I have thought that this kind of events do not happen often in Spanish schools. Maybe we think reading is not important. Maybe, also, we miss some authors like Tony Lee, only interested on encouraging children to read, to look for a book and get lost in its pages. Thanks, Tony.

“The way to stay inspired and motivated is by doing what you like, doing what you love”.

Raphael Saadiq