"Books take us places, shape our dreams"

What book(s) are you reading right now?
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff; A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini; Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education by Sir Ken Robinson and Flashes of Thought by HH Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. I greatly admire Hosseini's work and was deeply influenced by his first book The Kite Runner, as I have lived in Afghanistan - the setting of his books - as a child. My father was a UN expert in Kabul at the time, and the book holds several memories of the city for me.
What are the books that changed your life and shaped your outlook?
When I was still in school, some of the books that greatly impacted my outlook on life were An Autobiography: The Story Of My Experiments With Truth by Mahatma Gandhi; excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita; In more recent times - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey; The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma; From Good to Great by Jim Collins; The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. I was a nerdy Grade 8 student when I read Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography, and his self-discipline, focus and simplicity impacted me greatly and it is, to this day, one of my favourite autobiographies of all time.
What/who are the titles or the authors you can pick up and read any time?
These are some of my all time favourite authors - because of the wit, humour and life lessons they convey to readers of all ages. They are Stephen Covey, Edward de Bono, J.K Rowling, the Harry Potter series, Jim Collins, Roald Dahl and Dr. Seuss.
What are the books you would love to pass on to your children to read and treasure?
Without a doubt, all of Roald Dahl's works; Dr. Seuss; Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach; The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey; Fit for Life by Harvey Diamond. I must mention that I won a copy of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull as a prize in school and truly treasured it. It naturally became one of my well-thumbed books.
Why are books still relevant today?
As an educator who engages with young children everyday, I believe that books hold the unique ability to take us places, open up a vista of exciting possibilities, shape our dreams, ambitions and heighten our awareness of the world around us. In the words of Confucius, "You cannot open a book without learning something." - As told to staff reporter