CLEVELAND — Now is your chance to change some lives right here in Northeast Ohio. It’s time for News 5’s annual If You Give a Child a Book campaign. On Wednesday, News 5 anchor Katie Ussin spent some time with a few kids who were eager to share how much reading means to them.
Royel is a second grader at Stephanie Tubbs Jones School. It’s one of two Title I schools that benefit from the campaign. He’s still early in his reading journey, but he’s caught the bug.
“I like to read every one,” he said, when Katie asked what books he likes to read. That’s thanks, in part, to his big brothers. Messiah is in the 5th grade. He likes the Dog Man books. Cortez is the oldest; he’s in the 6th grade.
“I read to both of them,” he said of his two younger brothers. Big brothers reading to little brothers, growing their own skills along the way.
“Builds teamwork,” Cortez told us. To which Royel enthusiastically responded: “And teamwork makes the dream work!”
This trio has been able to build up their home library thanks to free Scholastic Book Fairs held each spring and fall, funded by your generous donations during this campaign.
Sixth grader Rylee can’t wait for the next one.
“The book fair is awesome,” she said.
Her parents have instilled a love of reading in her, along with a love of the arts. She wants to be an artist when she grows up. She may even find some inspiration now, in stories.
“I like getting books that I want, whether they’re older books or newer books or middle age books or something like that,” she said.
Even kids who don’t necessarily love to pick up a book know it’s still important. As an 8th grader, Artavia told Katie, “Reading is actually good for you, even if you like it or don’t like it.”
She knows building this skill is essential. She’s thinking about becoming a hairstylist or maybe a chef. Either will require her to read up.
“Recipes, reading the ingredients on the box, tablespoons, how many to put in there,” she said.
All of these kids know that books open doors.
“Some kids don’t get the opportunity to get or read books in life,” Rylee said. “They may not be the best reader, but with more books at our school, that’s an awesome opportunity because you get to read a lot of books.”
If you want to provide an awesome opportunity for these kids to read a lot of books, click here to donate to our If You Give a Child a Book campaign.
You can also text WEWS to 50155.