Twinsburgbulletin.com - Bobby's World: Reading to children is an enjoyable task, no matter which week

by Senior Editor Robert Recker
About a month ago, I was excited to receive a letter from Wilcox Primary School inviting me to be a guest reader to kindergartners as part of Right to Read Week. I was thrilled to get the chance to get out from behind my computer and into the community.

I took my happy news home to my wife, a fourth-grade teacher, who abruptly stated, "Right to Read Week? I thought that was last week."

At least it happened last week at her school.

I learned that RTRW is not necessarily an official, cast-in-stone calendar event. (Although the Ohio Council of the International Reading Association calls May 12-16 the "Official Celebration Dates" of RTRW, at least three different Twinsburg school buildings celebrate it during different weeks).

Regardless of when it happens (my reading date was May 2), I had a blast.

Standing before a couple dozen kids who were just on the cusp of learning to read, I journeyed through the 20 or so pages of "Ten Monkey Jamboree," a rhyming tale about a group of happy-go-lucky primates whose jungle party is disturbed by a hungry tiger.

It made me think back to the last time I was a RTRW guest. It's half a decade and two daughters since that time, and I've certainly gotten better at my "kid reading voice."

I felt right at home inflecting my speech to bring those monkeys to life. I was not embarrassed to throw out some frantic hand gestures or unleash rakish facial expressions to dramatize the WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP of monkeys scrambling up a tree to escape the tiger's clickety claws.

The students ate it right up.

Given the assortment of electronic gizmos and games available to entertain children these days, it was gratifying to keep this large group on the edge of their seats -- carpet, actually -- with plain old paper, ink and the boatload of mental images one could almost see forming in their heads.

I encourage everyone reading this to sit down and read with a child in your life. You just might get as much enjoyment out of it as they do.

And that's the point of Right to Read Week, no matter which week it happens to fall on.

E-mail: rrecker@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3168