I was looking at old travel photos earlier today, debating if I wanted to share some. I can’t decide if it is a good idea.

In these days of travel restrictions it seems a little cruel to talk about places we can’t visit. Yet at the same time they bring back good memories and warm feelings, and these days we all enjoy anything that makes us feel good.

Maybe later in the week…

Today’s picture though made me smile, as it did in 2009 when I took it. I seem to remember it was on the side of a bus shelter somewhere in northern Germany. Back then, my wife had to translate for me. Today I can understand it myself, so I guess I have picked up a little bit of the language over the past four years.

The poster is for a summer reading club for school children. The caption translates as “Shock your teacher – read a book.” I guess there is a stereotype of children not reading unless it is required.

Never understood that myself. Even as a child I put reading above almost anything else. Sometimes as a teenager I would get so absorbed in a book that I would miss the occasional meal. I just wouldn’t hear the call to dinner, I was so caught up in whatever world the book had taken me to.

Given a choice, I would love to spend a few days each week doing nothing other than read. Fiction, non-fiction, it doesn’t really matter. As long as it can hold my interest and is well written.

(I’m reading a non-fiction work at the moment, work related, where the writing is driving me nuts. I don’t blame the authors, but I am really annoyed with the editor. The book is mediocre – but with proper editing it could have been excellent.)

I looked at the website on the poster, and the summer reading club is still going strong, a dozen years after I saw this poster. Last year more than 18,000 children took part. My guess is they all had a lot of fun. A book makes a summer day that much more special.

Or any day really. Why not take some time out today from whatever you have to do, and instead curl up for an hour with a book.

You won’t regret it. But it is probably too late to shock your teacher.