You guys have to watch this, so we can talk about it. It’s beautiful and whimsical and celebrates the healing power of books and stories. Especially profound when viewed through a post-Katrina lens. And it speaks, too, about readers and how they give life to books as much as anyone else. As a novelist and lover of New Orleans who is married to an animator, this little short, up for an Academy Award, makes me happier than I can say (even if I did sniffle at the end).

P.S. Did you spot the Alpha-Bits cereal? Not surprisingly, that was my favorite when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen it on a store shelf in years.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.