For the second year in a row, I was asked to participate in the reading week held annually at North Attleboro's Community School, and I gladly accepted. Encouraging reading is always a good thing, especially in an era when reading books is competing for people's time with various forms of electronic media. I've always liked books, because they force you to use your imagination, so I was particularly pleased when one of the messages of the book that I read was how using your imagination enhances your life.

"How I Learned Geography" by Uri Shulevitz is written by a survivor of the Nazi takeover of Eastern Europe. It talks about what happened when he was 4 or 5 after his parents were forced to flee Warsaw, Poland, following the Nazis' blitz into the country at the onset of World War II. His parents wound up in the Central Asian nation of Turkestan, once part of the former Soviet Union, and now a separate republic along with Kazakhistan.

In "How I Learned Geography," Shulevitz tells the story of his parents living with strangers and barely having any food. One day, his father went to the market with only enough money to buy a small loaf of bread. But instead of buying that, he decides to buy a map - not just any map, but a large, wall-sized colorful one. When he comes home, his son, Uri, and his wife are not pleased. Uri is particularly upset because he's going to have to go to bed hungry while the other people in the house are filling their bellies with bread.

The father is adamant, however, that he made the right decision. There wasn't enough money to buy enough bread to provide supper for everyone, he said, and the map - well that will be something to enjoy for a while, in the father's view. At first, Uri was upset, but as the short, colorfully illustrated book, progresses, Uri is soon captivated by the map. Through it, he learns to use his imagination, and "travels" the world over - to magnificent cities, deserts and faraway lands. In short, he is able to escape a time of war, and the desolation and destruction that it brought, by developing his fertile imagination.

Uri's story went over well with the students of Mrs. Schofield's fifth-grade class at the Community School, who in letters they wrote thanking me for my appearance indicated that the fact that his father opted for a wall map for his son over a loaf of bread so he had to use his imagination made for a good story. But my discussion of Uri's tale didn't stop there, as my appearance came a week after Memorial Day, which prompted me to talk to the students about World War II. Many students, in their letters, thanked me for discussing the war, and what the "Greatest Generation" had accomplished. Here's just a sampling of their comments:

"Before, I really didn't know a lot about World War II. But now I do from your answers. Thank you for reading that book to us," wrote Chelsea Howarth.

"I liked the story because it talks about World War II. I think that World War II was scary, because a lot of people and soldiers died. It is amazing how that boy survived during the war," wrote Macy Jabbour.

"I really enjoyed the book, and how you had the discussion with us at the end about World War II. I found it interesting because I'm reading 'The Diary of Anne Frank,'" wrote Paige Vidal.

One student, Allison Hayes, in her letter, asked me if I thought what Uri's father did was a good thing.

The easy answer would be to say yes, of course. But in reality, there is no right or wrong answer. Indeed, World War II, as "Anne Frank" so painfully pointed out, was a time of pure hell for nearly everyone caught in the devastation and destruction. Therefore, how people reacted to it, in order to maintain even a sense of normalcy, was subjective.

Obviously Uri's father made the right decision for him, as Uri became a writer - he moved to France and Israel well after the war. But it might not have been the right decision for others caught up in that horrific situation.

The letters that I received from the students were encouraging, not because they took the time to write, but because they showed that they were listening. I told them to thank a veteran, to talk to their parents, grandparents, uncles, brothers or any other family members who served in the nation's various conflicts before it's too late. I told them that my own father, who was a radioman aboard a destroyer escort in World War II, had told me some things about the war, but that he had died before I was able to get him to fully open up about his experience.

I also told them to be appreciative for what the veterans have done to protect the freedom (which we celebrated this month on Independence Day), because without them, there would have been no freedom - and no public schools that allow guest readers to discuss a book such as "How I Learned Geography" with them.

LARRY KESSLER is a Sun Chronicle local news editor. He can be reached at lkessler@thesunchronicle.com or at 508-236-0330.