As a kid I went to five different schools before I started high school. My dad was in the army, so we moved around a lot – basically a different town every two years – so I had a few experiences of being ‘the new kid’. I was shy and quiet, so it sometimes took me a little while to find new friends (To any other ‘new kids’ out there: I always did! It just sometimes takes a while!).

So, I used to draw a lot. When everything was really turbulent around me, or I was feeling self-conscious or anxious, I would park up in the corner with a pad and a pencil and start sketching. Drawing was a really comfy, happy place for me to go.

Somewhere along the line, when I was about seven or eight, a friend of my parents noticed how much I liked to draw. They figured I’d probably like comics and decided to pass on to me a stack of second hand Asterix and Tintin books. They were right: I was instantly hooked.

Image: Toby Morris reading by Sonya Nagels

The books were funny and they were exciting. They were mysterious and weird and sometimes even a bit rude or a bit scary. I was delightfully creeped out by the cursed mummy Rascar Capac in the Tintin book The Seven Crystal Balls, and delighted to be in on the joke when the English warriors took mid-battle tea breaks in Asterix in Britain. Tintin and Asterix took me around the world – to jungles and deserts and the peaks of the Himalayas – and I got to hang out with Spanish bullfighters, Cleopatra, and the fondue-loving Swiss. (Yes, the fondue in Pūkeko Who-keko is totally inspired by Asterix in Switzerland). I learned about revenge, about useless bosses, close escapes, the joy of swearing in grawlixes (great word, look it up!) and some very questionable national stereotypes.

Soon I discovered that reading books was another comfy and reliable safe place to go. So much of my memory of being a kid is coloured by a feeling of not being in control – of being stuck somewhere boring, waiting for something to happen. My house and my suburb and my school were fine, but I wanted more, too – to go places and see things and have adventures. Reading let me do that – no matter where I was or what was going on – no matter how terrible, or mundane - I could dive into a book and laugh or be thrilled or be scared, and learn things too.

I loved reading about ghosts, and curses, murders and mysteries – things that no-one would talk to me about in real life. Without even realising it, I also learned about relationships, and bits of history, and right and wrong, and how people get along (or don’t). I felt like every book I read made me a tiny bit stronger and smarter. I often say to my own kids, in gaming terminology: that books are power-ups, potions, bonus points. And whatever you’re into, there’ll be a book about it - reading is for everyone!

Image: Toby Morris reading by Sonya Nagels

For me, reading Asterix and Tintin soon led to other comics. There weren’t as many options available then as there are now, so it was mostly jokey English things like Whizzer & Chips, old-fashioned adventures like The Phantom, or war comics like Commando. From there I jumped into reading novels too – I loved pick-a-paths, crime, mysteries, anything funny or weird or a bit gross. Before long I was in very deep – I was a reader. And I never looked back.

That friend of my parents who gave me those books barely knew me. I think they were someone our family knew quite briefly – a friend of a friend perhaps, or maybe a member of a youth group my Mum helped out with. But they saw me. I’m amazed how thoughtful and observant they must have been to figure this random kid might get a kick out of this pile of old books. I’m sure they have no idea of the impact of that gift, but it really was profound. They sparked a love of reading and crash-course education in the language of comics that played a huge part in how my life has turned out.

These days I think about that gift a lot, and I hope that I can spark that discovery of reading for someone else. I love giving books as presents – it’s so fun to think about someone you really like and try and guess what book will be perfect for them.

I think about it whenever I do school visits too. In every class or school group I meet, I’m always hoping there’s someone listening at just the right moment, and maybe I can help to light a little spark that leads to something cool.

Reading has given me so much, so I want to help let other kids in on the secret too.

For more about Toby's work, check out his Writers File, and to learn more about what's happening around the motu for NZ Children's Book Week, we've got you covered.