When I was a kid, I really wanted to be a magician. The power to create highly imaginative illusions and convince your audience that anything is possible was very inspiring. As a young ESL student, some days I wished that I could cast a spell on myself and *poof* instantly be able to share all the stories I had inside me.
Thanks to my parents - who read stories to me every night and shepherded me on countless library visits - I was eventually able to achieve my dream by using a different kind of magic. Instead of pulling rabbits out of hats, I created a rhino named Ralphy and brought him to life in everyghing from books to the world's first round library card, and even the Olympics.
I've had the privilege to inspire young reader from Canada to China to believe that anything is possible when you dream and work hard enough. With every story, drawing, scool visit and project I undertake, I try to infuse it with the same wonder and inspiration you feel when you see a magician perform. We all have a little magic inside of us. I call it something else: The Power of Imagination.
