One Saturday in June, probably while cleaning bathrooms, I listened to an NPR interview with a young author. A young college grad had written a memoir about the 3,218 day reading streak she and her dad had racked up – an accomplishment that began when Alice was in fourth grade – and her dad promised to read to her for 15 minutes each night for 100 days in a row.
That’s a book I’d like to read some day, I thought.
Ozma’s book was on display at our library a few weeks ago, and I wasted no time in checking it out. The book was a delight to read. But then, how could a book about a dad and his daughter reading together every night from fourth grade to the night before her freshman year in college not be a delight? Ozma’s father went to great lengths to keep the streak going – like interrupting her play practice before midnight and squeezing in their read before her date picked her up for the senior prom.
But the book was much more than a recounting of how they made time to read or a list of what they read. The book is the story of how reading bound Alice and her father, a most remarkable elementary school librarian, together through good and bad times.
Through the end of her parents’ marriage.
Through the awkwardness of a single dad parenting his daughter during puberty.
Through separation from an older sister who went abroad for several months.
Through her father’s fight with the school board about the importance of reading to kids.
And so much more.
This book is not long or scholarly or deep. It is not hard to read. But, as our local librarian said as she checked it out on my card, it’s a book that will make you want to read to your children. Which means it is a very important book for parents and grandparents and teachers and book lovers everywhere. And Ozma has a website with book lists and suggestions about how to start a reading streak with the kids in your life.
But read the book before you visit the website. Just do it. You (and your kids) will be glad you did.
