"There are more books that shape people than books made by people!!" Hello? This is Teacher Sera. It has been nearly 15 years since I started reading, writing, and sharing stories with children. When I first began this work, there were no reading and writing academies in the neighborhood. My first connection was with a small group of students I met while creating NIE (Newspaper in Education) teaching materials myself using children's newspapers. As the number of students grew, we gradually began conducting discussion and writing classes where we selected books we wanted to read together. Currently, as a reading and writing teacher, I guide over 100 students every month. I feel a sense of fulfillment in my work whenever my students go to college and visit me to tell me that all the activities we did together—reading and writing—gave them great strength. Having read countless books and met many children, I saw students who struggled with reading and found it difficult to express their thoughts and feelings in writing. I wanted to gift them the most primal and old-fashioned skills: reading and writing. Since books are written by a single person, there are more books that shape people than books made by people. People who have grown through books do not waver easily. I hope that more friends will join me in 'reading, our brilliant old-fashioned hobby.' "I am old-fashioned, so I think that reading books is the most brilliant hobby humanity has ever devised." - Wisława Szymborska -