At Book Dads, we believe strongly in the powerful role dads play in helping their children develop a lifelong love of reading. While this month at Book Dads has been a celebration of fatherhood and reading, we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge how fortunate many of us are to be able to provide books and a healthy and safe reading environment for our children.
Throughout much of the world, this is not something that can be taken for granted. Last month, I was saddened to read the following tweet from LitWorld: “47% of Detroit’s adult population is functionally illiterate. This is unacceptable. Everyone deserves the right to read!” If you’re like me, you’re going to be stuck trying to grasp that 47% for a few minutes. My first question after reading that tweet was, “How many vulnerable children are affected by that 47%?” I then began to wonder about the probability that this may continue through the next two or three generations unless something is done to break the cycle.
On a visit to Detroit last week, I saw first hand the dramatic effects a 47% illiteracy rate has on a city. It’s not pretty and I left that night extremely saddened by what I saw in one of my favorite cities.
At Book Dads, we also feel very strongly about the second part of the tweet: “Everyone deserves the right to read!” Like LitWorld, we also believe in this and for that reason we have helped spread their powerful message of literacy for all. We’re honored to include our friends from LitWorld as part of our Father’s Day Celebration.
LitWorld is undertaking two important projects this summer as they will work to bring the power of story to hundreds of young people from Kenya to Harlem. However, in order to accomplish these projects, they need OUR help! LitWorld is calling out to the community to help by donating books and school supplies:
KENYA:
On July 8, 2011, members of the LitWorld team are headed to Kenya to visit our partners at the Children of Kibera Foundation. LitWorld works very closely with the Children of Kibera Foundation’s Red Rose School, where we run programs such as the Girls Clubs for Literacy Project. The Red Rose School is a beacon of hope for the children of Kibera, and is a positive learning environment providing education for children who are HIV/AIDS orphans.
HARLEM:
Starting this summer, LitWorld will set up the Story Power Camp project, a summer reading enrichment program for the youth of the Children’s Village, Polo Grounds Community Center. The Story Power Camp aims to engage young people in reading and writing through fun, interactive activities, while encouraging each participant to boldly share their personal stories. The Children’s Village works in partnership with families to help society’s most vulnerable children so that they become educationally proficient, economically productive and socially responsible members of their communities.
Hi Chris,
What a great and enthusiastic review!
You made me smile with the following sentence:
“I was thrilled to see Pam’s answer to the question of when should you stop reading aloud (“Never!”).”
Loved that you singled that sentence out! Indeed – reading aloud – is more about the relationship and learning, than about “learning words” or “learning to read”.
Fab review of a fab book!
Read Aloud Dad