When Oprah Winfrey announced that she would be talking about children's books in July, I got excited. A year ago, she'd shared a bunch of titles with little enthusiasm, but I figured since she was returning to the theme, she'd seen the light.
But she hasn't seen the light. She began her six minute segment by saying, "I don't read children's books" which is exactly the way she began covering these books last time. Then she worked through close to thirty titles, sorted by age levels. I could tell she'd read two of the books. For the rest she read the titles dramatically, or commented colorfully on the covers. These reactions made me doubt she'd opened the books. One of my favorite titles this year, The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson got a slight nod. Oprah said she liked the book because of the little black girl with braided hair on the cover "cause" as Oprah put it, "I think that could be me."
The irony is that The Other Side is a thirty-two page book which illustrates all Oprah preaches with its text and pictures. Its subject centers on the racial issues that concern Ms. Winfrey. These are expressed with the same eloquence and simplicity of words she admires in books for adults. Like Oprah's shows, The Other Side inspires people to change the way they see and to grow in understanding.
Oprah Winfrey, a genius at getting experts and authors to represent their work, could have had help! There is an amazing new book out by Mem Fox, an author who has proved herself many times in the children's books she's written and the literacy teaching she's done. Mem Fox, whose parents were Christian missionaries, has declared herself a "missionary for literacy", just like Oprah. Her new book, Reading Magic is subtitled Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. It's a weighty title, but Fox's delivery is so breezy and anecdotal that you hardly notice the theories when they pop up. That's also because she translates these ideas into practical, comforting advice. Fox tells readers that children need to hear a thousand stories read aloud before they read for themselves. Then she notes that three stories a day "deliver us a thousand stories in one year". She suggests "one favorite, one familiar and one new, but," she adds, "reading the same book three times is also fine." Fox describes reading together as a delicious "chocolate" kind of experience. The kind that can't be matched by television because it gives children a chance to talk back. The kind that develops a private family language through shared book experiences. She gives techniques for making reading aloud a dramatic and satisfying event. Fox explains the three magics children need to understand before they can read alone and she shows how reading aloud unites these three: the magic of print, the magic of language, and the magic of general experience.
I'm hoping one day Oprah will discover the wonder of children's books. If only she knew Mem Fox. Reading Magic would certainly change Ms. Winfrey's view point and offer her a new way to change the world.