Jesse Silva

By inventing language the human race invented stories. As a result, telling stories is not just the oldest form of entertainment, it is considered by many the highest form of consciousness. The need for narrative is embedded deep in the corners of our brains. Let's think back when we were just kids. There's a good chance the first books we remember as children had an element of fantasy. In fact, for the very first formidable years of our lives, we were offered little else on a continuous basis. Ironically, from a literature point of view, the secondary world of fantasy was our first step to understanding our primary world. In other words, children's literature has everything to do with our reality. It has everything to do with the human condition both individually and collectively. To turn away from children's literature is to turn away from ourselves. I'm currently a children's literature researcher and consultant to teachers, librarians, owls, bunnies and kittens. I'm working on my dissertation, writing a memoir. I got recently married in Tuscany on October 13, 2015 in front of 45 family and friends, who flew out and stayed with us at Vignamaggio (villa) for one week celebrating our wedding. I guess you can say I'm a pretty lucky guy!