Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast where we provide one lesson every day to help you with your most

important job being a dad. These are lessons inspired by ancient philosophy, by practical wisdom,

and insights from dads all over the world.

Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

Books are door-shaped portals.

A while back we gave you Kipling's poem, If, well, today,

you have another job to read some of Margarita Ingle's poem about books. Books are door-shaped portal, she writes, carrying me across oceans and centuries, helping me feel less alone.

It's beautiful and easy to forget in a time when it's

easier to pull up a YouTube video or turn on a video game. George R.R. Martin has talked about

how a reader lives a thousand lives, and Stephen King once said that books are uniquely portable

magic. We have to give our kids access to this magic.

We have to encourage them to walk through these portals.

On the other side is not just thousands of potential lives,

but also infinite amounts of wisdom.

It's hard to be a kid.

It's hard to be a person.

Whether your kids live in a small town

or were built a bit different,

life can be lonely and frustrating, confusing, and boring. Books allow us to escape the tyranny of

our own experience and benefit from the experiences of others. They help us see the world before

we're able to travel. They help us visit the past that so far the science of

time travel does not allow us to otherwise see. So help your kids feel less alone. Help them

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