“The Mad Scientists Club”

“The Great Brain” and “Me and My Little Brain”

“Where the Red Fern Grows“

What great news from the NEA. I think you’ve really hit the nail on the head about how reading can open doors. It’s encouraging to see some positive statistics on American literacy for a change. I’ve understood the magic of a book for as long as I can remember, and I had the chance to watch my sister discover the power of a story as she grew up There is simply nothing like it. I sincerely hope that this NEA study is the first step in a trend to greater literacy - one can only hope that with a political leader who seems to embrace the intellectual lifestyle, the American culture will once again find itself motivated and inspired by the written word.

Then I laughed at myself. There are two bookcases in the dining room, because we couldn’t fit them all in the bedrooms. There are piles of books that wouldn’t fit in any of the bookcases lying around on the desks in the dining room (because we need desks and bookcases, we don’t need a dining room table).

But, mentally, those books don’t count; when you sleep surrounded by a solid wall (two deep) of a few thousand books, with your alarm clock precariously balanced on the edge of a shelf, two bookcases half full of knicknacks (so only half full of books) and two stacks on the desk just dont register.

Y’know, now that I think about it, there aren’t any rooms in the house without a book or two…

Here are some startling statistics regarding reading (I found them here):

1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.

70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

Each day in the U.S., people spend 4 hours watching TV, 3 hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines.

I have to chuckle when I hear so many people complaining that many Americans are not “ready” for the digital TV switch-over. I’m suspecting that many people just don’t care enough about TV to switch over to digital. Maybe they are planning to read more. They’d certainly be better off in the long run.

My ten-year old daughter has begun to inhale books. I find her curled up in a corner, sometimes laughing out loud. The rest of us read too. My wife often reads aloud to my two daughters, who become mesmerized with the stories. I think back to the many hours I used to spend reading out loud to my daughters. One of the most moving books I read for them is a short book called “The Gardner,” by Sarah Stewart and David Small. It’s just bursting with emotion.

There’s something special about reading. I’m amazed that writers always write at the same speed at which I read. If the book is difficult and I need to take it slowly, the author slows down for me!

Who could have suspected that little squiggles on a page could pack such meaning and emotional intensity. If only the person who first carved a symbolic character into a chunk of stone could be transported to the present to see what reading has become.