I opened a book poem

This poem is by British children's author Julia Donaldson. It's one of my favorites, mainly because I feel it reflects the world of a true reader. The first four lines describe how a reader can get lost in a book once the start, until they are unaware of the world around them - a feeling I understand completely - sometimes it happens in a not-so-safe way, but that's how it is. Our world is left behind as we delve into a new one on paper.

The next four lines are basically experiences one can have in a story. "I'm wearing a cloak" - there's so many books that we can account for that with, but let's go with one of the most famous: Harry Potter, by J. K. Rowling. Technically speaking, it's a series, not an individual book, but what do we care? The more the merrier, they say.

"I've slipped on the ring" - frankly, this line can be taken in different ways. The way I saw it at first was the person (the "I") slipped on (as in, tripped/fell over/slid on) the ring. Then again, you can also see it as slipped on (as in, put on finger) the ring. Again, many different books. Another famous series that will fit: Lord of the Rings (and the Hobbit) by J. R. R. Tolkien. "My precious..."

Poor Gollum. You really have to pity him - but that's a different discussion for another time.

"I've swallowed the magic potion" - pretty simple. Again, this can go with the Harry Potter series, but in the interest of having a wide range of reading material, we could go with any number of other books. Considering that the definition of potion is any liquid with medicinal, magical, or poisonous properties (then it could be anything with medicine, no?), then suppose we could go with quite a few Shakespearean plays (though yes, they're not technically books). You could also try Clatter of Jars by Lisa Graff, but that's a sequel, so you'd do better to read Tangle of Knots first.

"I've fought with a dragon". Well, again, Harry Potter would fit - but again, in the interest of diversity - the How to Train a Dragon series? Sure, why not?

"Dined with a king". Lots of possibilities. Let's go with something like King Arthur or the such.

"And dived in a bottomless ocean." This, I suppose, could go well with the Percy Jackson series, since the sea demigod has dived into his fair share of oceans (albeit not technically bottomless ones, but off the top of my head, I can't think of any bottomless-sea-diving books.)

"I opened a book and made some friends./I shared their tears and laughter/and followed their road with its bumps and bends/to the happily ever after." These lines are some of my favorites out of the whole poem. Any reader can understand them - it's what reading is all about. It also can reflect life in a way - reading is a way to experience life, and at the same time, avoid it (does that sound wrong?) because you can hide with that cloak from the troubles (those "bumps and bends") of life in a book. And you can figure out how to navigate those bends through reading as well.

The last lines are also my favorite part. In fact, let's just say the second half of the poem is my favorite part. "I finished my book and out I came/the cloak can no longer hide me". The books can't shield us forever from the world - and they'll always be finite.

"My chair and my house are just the same/but now I have a book inside me." Life will be just the same after you finish - that chair, that house - will be the same as when you started - but now you have one more book inside of you, one more list of experiences, one more piece to advise you, or entertain you. Another memory of experiences you have shared.

This poem is one of my favorite (in fact, maybe the favorite). It has a pleasant tick-tock sort of meter, and it has a subtle rhyming quality. Not outright, not irritatingly, but almost catchily. If you are like me, and love to read, I suggest running this through your head once in a while. It can help us remember why we read when we forget.