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Article:
The Treasure of reading to Children by: Maxine Thompson This placard graced my late mother's bedroom wall, and until recently, I didn't understand what it meant. After spending a normal vacation with my loved ones in Atlanta and Detroit, I reflected how wonderful it is to enjoy adult children and grandchildren when times are normal. No one in the immediate family was in harm's way. Everyone is being blessed. One friend is moving into a new house. Instead of coming home for a funeral, or a death watch, I was just home to enjoy the moment. Things are looking up. Lesson learned. We have to treasure our moments of serenity. Now I'd like to paraphrase this saying and add, 'Reading to children, what a treasure it is.' I often speak on the issue of the shortage of African American books for children and teenagers. Too many of our teenagers are reading books meant for adults because of the shortage of book. Still too many African American teenagers are dropping out of school. Last summer, when my three-going on four year old grandchild, Darius, visited from Michigan and came to California, we developed a ritual of reading at night. I'll never forget his words, 'That was a good book.' This year, when I visited him in Detroit, it was a pleasure to see the light in Darius's eyes as he recognized colors and numbers in a book. This was especially exciting because I saw his love for reading grow. My oldest son, Maurice, age '33
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