Copyright 2005 Black Butterfly Press
“Normal day what a treasure you are.”
Dr. Maxine E. Thompson http://www.maxinethompson.com
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, told me that he hated when I
took them to the library, but now he does this very same thing
with his preteen children, so he’s hoping the seed will be
planted as it was in his case. Now Reading is one of his
favorite pastimes.
So I’d like to encourage African American writers to write more
culturally relevant children books and readers to support more
Black children writers.
Make use of your public libraries, which is a treasure trove of
information, and a wonderful place to get free books for your
children.
As parents are reving up for back to school, take time and
invest in reading to your children.
1. Reading together builds your child’s vocabulary. 2. Reading
helps with your child’s imagination. 3. Reading helps create
memories your child will later cherish from his childhood. 4.
Reading together is a spiritual endeavor like writing. You may
be nurturing the mind of the next Toni Morrison. 5. You will see
the return on the back end. As they say, “You pay now, (in terms
of time invested with your children,) or you pay later.” Just
ask parents who were too busy working while their children were
growing up, who now have to deal with these adult children’s
drama when they didn’t get the lessons right the first time
around.
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