By Raquel Wildes

Since I was little, I had a passion for reading. At the age of nine, I gave up my Barbie dolls and, like Matilda, the star of the 1996 motion picture Matilda, devoted myself to reading all of the books in my library in order to develop a mind so powerful that it could control inanimate objects.

At breakfast, I would stare at my Cheerios for what seemed like hours, hoping that my perpetual concentration would enable them to move. As I got older and shed my other alter egos (I was also Harriett the Spy, carrying a magnifying glass everywhere I went, and Marie Curie, delineating scientific theories in a pee-tee-ful French accent), I never stopped being Matilda. I never stopped wanting to become as learned as I possibly could because even if it would not exactly give me telekinetic powers, I knew that knowledge really is magical.

My Auntie also had this passion for literature, and we started our very own Auntie-Niece book club.

If you and your niece or nephew loves to read too, this is something you can do as well. Come up with a cute club name, and pick mutually convenient times to meet. If you do not live close enough to your niece or nephew to meet personally, you can Skype each other from your separate living rooms!

Either you can take turns picking the books, and this way you can share one anothers' tastes or you can ask your niece or nephew what their assigned reading is for school and you can read along. This serves the dual function of helping out with class assignments, and keeping yourself involved in your niece or nephews lives.

Published: February 15, 2012