Our daughter, bookworm extraordinaire

Our oldest daughter Meredith, age 7, loves to read. So we were not surprised by her enthusiastic response when Robyn told her about a reading contest she could enter. The rules are simple: read 40 age-appropriate books by September 15th and submit a list of them to the contest organizers (a homeschool curriculum company). The first 250 students in each age category to submit their book list receives a $10 gift certificate for the catalog. And all those who finish their books by the deadline are entered into a drawing for cash prizes.

Meredith is not the type who has trouble focusing on a goal once she is determined to reach it. As soon as she heard about this contest, like a world-class sprinter exploding from the blocks at the starting gun, Meredith began her mad dash to finish her 40 books. Nothing else in life mattered. Mealtime, which for most of us is a pleasant break from our daily activities, was for Meredith an annoying interruption. Even her piano playing took a hiatus. Instead of hearing the halting notes to "The Entertainer", we heard the regular flutter of pages as Meredith methodically worked her way through book after book after book.

Meredith tore through our personal stash of qualifying books in no time. So, Robyn took her to the library to plunder their selection. That was yesterday morning. By yesterday afternoon, Meredith was back at the library for a new stack. And then today, she had to go back to the library a third time for yet another supply. She must have been the talk of the librarian break room. Every one of them expressed amazement that she was back for more.

This evening, less than 48 hours from the time she began, she finished her list. Forty books, all duly read and noted on her list. By my calculation, she read about twice as many books in two days than I read in four years of college. She is the Princess of Print, the Queen of the Tome.

I told her tonight at dinner she is a genuine bibliophile. She asked, "What's that?" Drawing on my seminary language training, I explained to her with all the erudition I could muster what the Greek roots of the word are, and what it means. I know that at this rate, she'll be smarter than me soon. But, at least I still know a few things she doesn't.