A personal and poignant chronicle of a child"s intellectual and emotional growth through reading, of a family tragedy, and of the universal trial of mourning. Through vivid details and with surprising candor, Egypt"s First Lady recounts cherished memories of her grandson, Mohamed Mubarak, who tragically died at the age of twelve. She spent a good part of his life reading with him, first bedtime stories and later books on topics as various as astronomy and Japanese culture. Suzanne Mubarak, an ardent sponsor of Egypt"s Reading for All project, a national campaign that aims to encourage reading as the basic tool for acquiring knowledge, illustrates beautifully how reading probed Mohamed"s imagination, triggered his curiosity, shaped his personality. "My own belief is that reading to Mohamed from an early age developed his ability to express himself clearly and confidently," writes Mrs. Mubarak. "By the time he was two he was bilingual with a wide vocabulary in both languages." The joy of witnessing the boy"s youthful metamorphosis and the rare glimpses into leisure moments of the Mubarak family life are counterpointed with Mrs. Mubarak"s intimate description of her own profound grief and her personal struggle with loss, coupled optimistically with her will to keep Mohamed"s memory alive through her continued mission to propagate reading and literacy in Egypt.