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A little history of reading: How the first books came to be

  Edited by  Vinuri Randhula Silva, Books and storytelling have long been part of our human identity. Author Cerrie Burnell shows this is why stories are for everyone – whatever your background We all know that glorious feeling of clutching a book in our hands. Whether it’s a brand-new gift, or something we’ve borrowed from a fabulous library, or perhaps a long-loved family treasure creased from re-reading... But there is a specialness that comes from holding a story and knowing that you can step in or out of it, whenever you wish. When my daughter asked me, ‘But how did the first book begin?’, I didn’t have a coherent answer. I’ve just always accepted that books are a kind of magic. But the journey of a book and how they first began is its very own cross-cultural, historical adventure that weaves its way around the globe. Spoken word and cave drawings Before we had books, we had stories. Storytelling was a communal act: a retelling of daily life to teach a lesson, instil...