Table of Contents
For Jim, Katie, and Charlotte
(Always and always, over and over)
Acknowledgments
The best way I can think of to thank the wondrous people who have influenced the writing of this book would be to give them each a ceremonial, metaphorical book gift.
To my colleagues at LitLife, brilliant, generous, and wise, I give the book Because of Winn-Dixie, because that book is all about community and that is what you are all about. Your love and care for the work of literacy education inspires me every day. To all the teachers and children in the schools within which we work, my gratitude and everlasting admiration. I thank you all for championing the idea of this book and for your insights and steady wisdom that keep LitLife and now LitWorld (thank you, awesome Jenny Koons) moving forward and forward, for as James Baldwin said: These are all our children.
To the fabulous Rebekah Coleman I give the book Planting the Trees of Kenya because you so believe in this dream that words can change worlds and you have done so much to help me in every way and at every turn. Your radiant presence is felt on every page of this book.
To Alyssa McClorey, who arrived like a miracle just when we most needed you, and before you embarked upon your own magical teaching future, and to Flynn Berry, whose graceful and luminous support impacts the writing here, I give you both the book Words Under Words by Naomi Nye to nourish your dreams. Jen Estrada, Tara Mastin, and many wonderful interns over the years have helped us collect the books that matter to this community; I give you the poem Kindness in gratitude for yours.
To the boys at the Childrens Village and their teachers and caregivers, as well as to my humane and thoughtful cocreators of Books for Boys, I give the book The Dream Keeper, by Langston Hughes, because he teaches us through his poems that words can provide a refuge and a source of safety and comfort for children who most need it.
From this book, I mark the page with the poem April Rain Song for my dear friend of my heart and codirector of Books for Boys, Sue Meigs. Your April birthday brings me much joy because it is a time to celebrate you. I love our years of walks and talks of our hopes for the boys and for our own children.
I mark a page of that book for you, dear Lauren Blum, The Dream Keeper, for keeping my dreams and yours for all children alive with your faith, love, and inspirational optimism in all people, and for you, dear Jeannie Blaustein, for your wisdom and kindness, for your precious friendship, and for taking tender care of dreams.
To the women who have shared their book knowledge with us, I give you the book The Librarian of Basra because your work is beyond important; it is essential. We talked to and worked with fantastic and knowledgeable librarians and educators, booksellers, and book enthusiasts who shared favorite books with us; I am touched by their belief in this work and in their dedication: the magnificent Marva Allen, whose reach has influenced thousands of children to find their own cultural, colorful selves within the pages of stories; wonderful public librarians Amy Fontaine and Rebecca Johnson, who shared such treasures with us; and my dear friend of my heart and soul, Elizabeth Fernandez. How lucky I have been to find a friend who loves words and children and has given so much of herself to our friendship and to our work.
To Lisa DiMona, literary agent beyond compare, I give the book The Other Way to Listen, by Byrd Baylor, because you always listen so closely and so carefully to the promise of stories and ideas whispering in the world. I am so grateful.
To the extraordinary team at Avery, especially Megan Newman, brilliant and inspirational publisher, and Lucia Watson, my dear, dear Watson, who makes me smile each time I open her e-mails and whose wise support and fine touch have brought this book to completion, I give you all the picture-book version of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost. It is a poem that takes care with words, as do you. You make all things possible, and your work makes words last. Thank you for your faith in me.
To my wonderful in-laws, Cindy and Lou Allyn, who value reading and provide me my very own reading couch at every visit, I give The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg, for all the special times that have created many happy memories for our family, and many cozy reading times together.
To my parents, Anne and Bill Krupman, for all the years of your love, your guidance, your great humor, and our thousands and thousands of life-changing conversations. I give you the memory of my old battered copy of Blueberries for Sal. In those pages I keep the first memories of your voices, which carry me on into the world every day and are the beloved voices I cherish always.
To my family of my heart: children, Katie and Charlotte, and husband, Jim, for your presence every, every day, for your wisdom, for your company, for your blessed, blessed spirits and sense of life and purpose and joy. For these reasons, it is hard to choose just the right book to give you. But then I realize: I can give you this one, which contains every and all of the books we once read together. All my love, always.
Pam Allyn
2008
Introduction:
The Sound of Reading Calls Us Home
My strongest memory from childhood is the sound of my mothers voice reading Blueberries for Sal. Little Sal is walking with her pail, and because she is eating so many of the berries, the ones she does manage to save enter her pail with a kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk. I loved the way my mother formed those words as she said them. There was something immensely satisfying in her reading of that book to me. It was a combination of the way she spoke and the nature of the story itself: terrifically scary but at the same time tremendously comforting. One rainy day after school, my mother sat next to me on the couch and read that book to me for probably the hundredth time. I can still remember from that particular day the sound of the rain on the windowpane and the sound of her voice forming the words: kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk. Sal is happily oblivious to the bear cub nearby and yet we know that mother is also nearby. Nothing will happen to Sal. Nothing will happen to the cub. Something in Robert McCloskeys telling makes you sure.
Years later, it is nighttime, and I am holding one of my daughters, Charlotte, in my arms. She cannot sleep, and so we are sitting together; the chair goes back and forth; her hair smells like milk. We are under the window where the glimmer of a full moon glints down upon us. She reaches her hand up, and it looks to my tired eyes as if she is literally holding the moon inside it. Good night, moon, she whispers. She is not yet two. Good night, room, I whisper back. Good night, old lady, she whispers back to me, and it looks like she winks at me as her hand falls to my shoulder, and she drifts, finally, off to sleep.
The power of reading aloud to draw you and your child near is profound. As Goodnight Moon proves millions of bedtimes over, and as Blueberries for Sal proved unmistakably to me, the sound of the human voice can reach across the gulf of age, of all the things that keep us apart, and create a bridge that lasts a lifetime and extends through generations. Through books and stories that are designed to be read aloud, we convey to our children the beauty of language and the joys of rhythm and rhyme; and in the books we choose to read and the way we read them, we also convey the values we hold dear. Every day as you pack a lunch, wave good-bye to a school bus, tie a shoelace, braid a ponytail, the words you want to say to your child hum inside: I love you, be safe, I love you, be free. I love you, I love you, I love you, let the world treat you kindly, come back to me. Here are the values of my life, our family, here is what I hope for you, here is what I dream for you. And yet, for most of us, too many moments slip by and were lucky to get an I love you in edgewise. The good news, wondrously, is that the world is full of literature written by people who know you are longing to make connections and are striving to put a voice to them. This book is your guide to making lasting connections with your child through reading. It is also an essential resource for all the best books to read to your child and all the right times to read them.
