Although I was caught up in evacuee life because of the war, the protecting hand
of my elders was always there, so my childhood was a time of relative tranquility.
Nevertheless, in that situation, the repeated changes of life environment were hard to
bear for a child, and I sometimes felt ill at ease with my surroundings and even was at
odds with my own self, and I remember there were times when I was quite exhausted.
At such times, how much did I enjoy and how greatly was I encouraged by a few books
that I had by me, which, though they could not solve each and every problem, helped
me to go on! . . . .
          Looking back on it now, what did my childhood reading do for me?  
          Above all, it gave me pleasure and then laid the foundation for my later reading
during my adolescence.
          At times it gave me roots; at times it gave me wings. These roots and wings
were a great help to me as I threw bridges out and in, expanding bit by bit and nurturing
my own personal world.
          Reading gave me opportunities to ponder over joy and sorrow. It was through
reading books, with many kinds of grief delineated in them, that I could come to know
how deeply people other than myself can feel, or that I could perceive the many hurts
they bear.
          When I think that there are children who go through so many griefs and pains
beyond comparison with mine, maybe I should refrain from saying that in my own
sheltered childhood too, there were such things as sorrows. But, in any life whatever,
there is pain and sorrow. The tears of every single child have their blessing to be
able to find joy in books. Learning of life's sorrows adds to some extent more depth
to one's own life, and deepen one's thought for others. Similarly, coming in touch with
joy in books, the joy that was the wellspring of creative works by writers past and
present, imparts the joy of living to the reader, and when at times he is overcome by
helplessness, may help restore his hope in life, providing wings for him to take flight
once again.
          In order that children may cope with life in this world of sorrows, as well as
preparing them to endure sorrows, I think it is so important to foster in them hearts
susceptible to joy, hearts sensitively turned to joy.

— Extracts from the keynote speech by Her Majesty Empress Michiko of Japan 
at the 26th Congress of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), 
held in New Delhi in September 1998