READ ACROSS MARYLAND

Readers are celebrating next week. And there is plenty of good news to celebrate.

Read Across America, held this year on March 3, is a national observance that unites students, parents and teachers. The festivities at schools and libraries include pep rallies, book fairs, decorations and just reading aloud. The date, usually March 2,  was selected because it is the birthday of Dr. Seuss whose classic children’s books include Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and The Cat in the Hat.

Read Across America promotes literacy and lifelong reading in a positive and fun way. Even though we have been celebrating annually for 16 years, the doomsayers still tell us that reading among the next generation, if not already dead, is dying out. But not so fast.

How do the naysayers explain Harry Potter, The Twilight Saga or Hunger Games? Young adults have been gobbling up these books in quantities that make grumpy publishers smile. Why? Harry Potter has sold more than 450 million copies. Hunger Games is already over 50 million.

Targeted for young adults, these books aren’t light tomes. Harry Potter weighs in at 4,125 pages. The Twilight Saga is 2,682 pages. In previous generations, the Chronicles of Narnia were a mere 1,422 pages. The popular Lord of the Rings was only 1,856 pages. So, if reading is dying out why are the books getting longer and the sales going higher?

Parents and teachers will be pleased to hear that children nine to eleven years olds say that books “help you figure out who you are and who you could become.” What a wonderful reason for reading! In the same survey, 62 percent of these children said they read because they are inspired by the story and characters.

Is this the equivalent of if you build it they will come? Authors take note: Imaginative stories and noble characters draw an audience. So, if you can read, and there is something worth reading, it will be read.

But as we celebrate Read Across America, it’s important to remember those who can’t come to the party. In the United States, we have 32 million illiterate citizens and 19 percent of those who are graduating from high school are functionally illiterate. One consequence of illiteracy is that 63 percent of all inmates can’t read.

Young kids who can read, do read. When they read they learn about themselves and who they want to be. It’s obvious that reading helps you set your sights higher. So, hopefully, as we celebrate reading across Maryland next week, we redouble our efforts to stamp out illiteracy.

So join the reading festivities on March 3, and revel in the word play of Dr. Seuss. Because if you can read this, someone helped you become the person you imagined you would be.

Daniel Medinger is a candidate for the State Senate in Maryland.