A Story of a Young Father

By Julie Douglas

Children's books change more than children's lives. 

A young father attended a READ from the START program recently. He sat slumped in his chair next to me, rarely making eye contact with the other parents in the group. Clearly he had been coerced to attend by his wife, and he would rather have been anywhere but in the school library where we were meeting.

The Discussion Leader quickly got the parents talking and laughing and sharing memories of being read to as children. She invited us to read a children’s book "round robin" style. We tried using dramatic voices to make the book come to life. We studied the illustrations and brainstormed about the conversations we and our children might have about the book. We shared ideas about activities that would be natural extensions of the story we had read.

The young dad sat quietly, taking in the party-like enthusiasm that bubbled up all around him. He did not care to join in, thank you very much.

The last book of the evening was Black On White, a wordless board book that features only a simple black picture on each of the white pages. The Discussion Leader held up the book and began telling a story using the picture on the cover as a starting place. She then invited someone else to continue the story by including the object on the first page in some way. Soon a rollicking, delightfully disjointed, and VERY silly story evolved. The story featured an ornery cat who suddenly climbed up to a window and fell out. The picture on the next page was a bucket.

That’s when the most amazing thing happened. The dad, who had barely spoken the whole night, raised his hand.

"I've got the next part!" he said. With a shy smile he added his contribution to our wild story.

"And then the cat kicked the bucket!" he said. The other parents laughed with delight at the clever addition to the story. The young man beamed. His posture changed. He sat up straight and smiled at his fellow storytellers.

Later, the Discussion Leader chatted with the couple and learned that this young man was a non-reader. He told her that he was dyslexic and had never been read to as a child. Books were of little use to him. Even more amazing…that night was the first time he had set foot in his own child’s elementary school.
But that night, powered by one small wordless board book, a non-reader entered a strange, foreboding place and discovered the joy that could come from sharing a book with others.